Batista: I Walk Alone DVD
The Matches

Disc two:

OVW Heavyweight Title: The Machine (w/Queen Victoria) vs. Leviathan (Batista)

Machine works over the shoulder, but throws dust in the face of the referee. Leviathan hits a choke-slam, but the ref, from the back, is late in getting there. Revolution runs down. Leviathan recuperates and goes for the Demon-bomb, but Victoria gets in the ring in and hits a low-blow. The ref was late in, so it is a two. Leviathan then hits the spear for the win in 7:53.

Thoughts: This was a decent showing from Batista. The match was a bit straight forward at times, but was okay for what it was. I love Cornette’s commentating; if ROH was smart they would put him on the announce team. He really has an ability of knowing how to make the wrestlers look good. **

Kane vs. Batista

This was the first PPV match Batista had Kane starts it up, and  clotheslines him over, In the ring, Batista spears Kane and then hits a powerslam for 2. Batista hits a botchbomb and nearly breaks Kane’s neck. Kane hits a flying clothesline. Then, Batista gives Kane a spine-buster, but it only gets two. Kane tosses Flair in, allowing Batista to sneak up, boot Kane in the gut, and hit the Batista bomb to win in 6:38.

Thoughts: This is as bad as you expect. The fans were really getting angry at Batista, because how green he was; Kane was no better, either, and looked very sloppy. In a nut-shell, this was a complete utter mess. If I saw this match live, I would have thought Batista would have became World Heavy Weight unemployed, rather than Champion. DUD

Batista (w/Ric Flair) vs. Shawn Michaels

Batista catches up with Shawn’s speed, while HBK tried to use it to his advantage. Batista then waits for get up and nails him with a clothesline. Shawn goes for his comeback; then hits a flying forearm and does his kick up thing, but Batista grabs him for the double choke-slam. Shawn fights out of the move and hits the top rope elbow. Shawn goes for Sweet Chin Music, but Batista catches him and delivers a spine-buster. Batista calls for the Batista Bomb, but Shawn slips out of it and hits SCM for the win at 12:21.

Thoughts: No HBK match is bad, but this is as bad as one could get. Batista looked misplaced for the whole match. His timing and pacing were awful. He just did moves for the sake of doing them, with no meaning behind him. Terrible match wrestled by Batista. *¾

World Tag Team Titles: Table Match: Batista & Ric Flair vs. The Dudley Boyz

The Dudleyz attack them.  Batista misses a punch and hurts his own shoulder. Bubba gets a table and slides it into Batista. The Dudleys set up the table and snatch Flair. They’re about to suplex him through it, but Batista throws the table. The table gets set up in the corner. Flair chops Bubba. Bubba comes back with the Elbow. Batista chokes D-Von with his foot. D-Von hits Flair with an airborne clothesline. Batista hits Bubba with a charge. Flair goes up, but Bubba slams him off. Coach comes in, and saves Flair from going through the table. Batista hits a Batistabomb through the table at 4:20.

Thoughts: Short, sloppy, and botched. The only structure in the match was because of Flair. Bad match. ½*

Disc Three:

Royal Rumble (01/30/05).

Batista is #28, and comes in and eliminates off the bat. Jericho jumps at Batista, but Batista catches him and tosses him over. Christian is #29 and he goes after Cena. Rey hits Kane with the 619. Cena tosses Kane over with the Fireman’s carry. Ric Flair is #30. Batista spinebusters Coach and Flair eliminates him. Flair throws Christian into a Batista spinebuster. Flair and Batista team up to throw that guy who won in 2004. Flair tries to be the dirtiest player in the game, but Batista catches him, but Flair denies it. Edge hits a spear on Dave. Edge goes for a spear on Rey, but Rey counters. Edge tosses Rey to the apron and Edge spears him to the floor. Cena tosses Edge out. Cena picks Batista up in the FU, but can’t get him over the top rope. Batista counters into the Batista bomb. Cena holds on. They fall over the top, landing at the same time. Each brand ref thinks their wrestler won. Vince McMahon restarts the match. Batista blocks the FU and then hits the spinebuster on Cena.Batista throws Cena over the top, and is heading to Wrestlemania.

Thoughts: Not the best Rumbles, but easily up there. I liked everything up to the end. I found it very rushed, and asinine. They should have just made it seem like it was an epic showdown of two evenly match contenders, rather than the ridiculous ending (which caused Vince to tear both his quads.). This was the start of the Batista era. ***½

World Heavyweight Title: Triple H (w/Ric Flair) vs. Batista (04/03/05).

A stiff tie-up; no one gets the advantage. They do it again, and Batista pushes him backwards. Triple H tries a shoulder-block but runs into Batista. HHH goes for it again, and Batista knocks him down. HHH goes for the Pedigree, but Batista shoves him and then press slams him. Batista gives him a backdrop. Triple H ducks a clothesline and delivers a knee that sends Dave to the floor. Hunter hits Batista with an elbow as Batista trying to get back in the ring. Later on, H goes for a Pedigree, but Batista backdrops HHH. Batista catches HHH with a sideslam for only a two. Batista catches up with HHH and slams his face into the ringsteps. In the ring, Batista starts pounding on HHH. Batista delivers clothesline. Flair distracts Batista while Hunter attempts to hit him with a chair, but the Ref blocks it. Flair runs into a spinebuster with the title in his hand. Hunter nails Batista with the title behind the ref for only a two. Hunter charges but its right into a spinebuster. Batista goes for the Dave Bomb, but Hunter counters and hits a low blow. HHH goes for the Pedigree, but Batista powers out and drops him with a Misawa’s finisher. Batista hits the Dave Bomb and gets the pinfall.

Thoughts: Very boring in the start, but picked up slowly throughout the match. They tried adding drama by using the bag-of-tricks booking, but it just felt substandard for a WM main event match. Batista was very charismatic in this match, which helped hide his flaws. Better days for Batista still to come. ** ½

World Title, Hell in the Cell: Batista vs. Triple H (w/Ric Flair — 06/26/05)

Batista was mega over at this point. In the ring, Batista clotheslines him and whips HHH to the cell wall. Hunter counters the whip and sends Batista into the ringsteps. Batista attempts to get back in the ring, but HHH knocks him down. HHH gets a chain and hits Batista in the mid-section. HHH chokes Batista. Batista snaps and counters it. Batista starts hitting HHH with the chain with great vengeance and furious anger. Batista goes for the Dave Bomb, but Hunter counters with a backdrop. Hunter nails Batista with his friend, but it only gets two. He attempts again, but this time Batista goes low on HHH. Batista picks up the sledgehammer and charges, but clever HHH finds the chain and drills Batista before Batista hits him. Batista throws Hunter over the top.  In the ring, Batista throws HHH into the ring steps he set up Batista goes for the Dave Bomb, but HHH goes low and then hits the Pedigree, but only gets a two. HHH goes for another one, but this time on the steps. Batista counters the move, and hits a spinebuster. Batista goes for a Dave bomb, but HHH grabs the Sledgehammer on the way up. HHH goes to hit him, but runs out of time as Batista hits the Batista bomb and gets the three.

Thoughts: Started off very similar to their WM match because of it being methodically paced, but rapidly enhanced as the match went on. The finish gave HHH an “out” but also made it seem like he deserved a rematch clause. In my opinion, Hell in the Cell is supposed to end the feud by giving one of the wrestlers a clean victory to conclude the feud. Despite its flaws, it still was a very good match with good amounts of realism and hostility. Nice work.  ***½

World Heavyweight Title: No Holds Barred: Batista vs. John Bradshaw Layfield (08/21/05)

JBL meets Batista and they start brawling. JBL grabs the chair, but Batista spears him through the crowd blockade. JBL recovers and comes back with a clothesline and starts pounding him with the belt. Batista takes the belt away from him and drills JBL with it. JBL blocks a charge and hits the lariat for a two count. JBL brings the ringsteps into the match and goes for a powerbomb on them, but Batista backdrops him and gives him the Batista Bomb. He picks JBL up and gives him a powerbomb on the steps for the pinfall.

Thoughts: Much better than there Great American Bash match. WWE obviously knew that they needed to keep this one short and sweet in order for it to be watch-able. While it only lasted 9 minutes and was short they did tell a good enough story of Batista getting his revenge on JBL. Not as bad as you would think. **

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. Eddie Guerrero (No Mercy – 10/09/05).

Eddie takes Batista down, but Batista pops up and powers him. Eddie throws the chair down, but Batista grabs him and yells at him. Eddie whiplashes Dave’s throat on the top rope and hits the frogsplash for only a two. Later on, Eddie rolls through the Dave Bomb, but Batista blocks his sunset flip and pulls him up by the neck. Batista hits his vintage spinebuster, but only gets two. Batista tries an elbowdrop, but the ultimate opportunist gets his knees up. Eddie goes for the traditional frogsplash, but Batista gets out of the way. Eddie runs into the spinebuster, which gets the pin.

Thoughts: The more experience Eddie Gurrero helped carry Batista throughout the match Even though this wasn’t the high-flying/athletic side of Eddie, he told a believable story that served the purpose of the story behind this match.

The problems with the match were that; it was way too slow at times and never really picked up at any stages of the match; Batista was becoming very stale and all his matches virtually felt the same; and the finish was very anticlimactic because of Batista not having to use a finishing move to defeat Eddie and beating him with his “set up” move. Sadly, this was Eddie’s last “big” match. **½

World Heavyweight Title: King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Batista (11/26/06)

Batista attacks Booker T before he takes his robe off (real babyface). Batista goes for the Dave bomb early, but Booker rolls to the floor.. Batista counters a neck-snap on the ropes and delivers one of his one. Booker then works on Dave’s ribs. Batista comes back with a Jackhammer; then a Bossman slam for a two count. They brawl some more. Batista boots Booker to the floor and nails a flying shoulderblock (that Cole never saw before) for two. Booker hits him with a Bookend, but it only gets a two count. Batista counters the Scissors Kick and hits the Dave Bomb, but Booker T gets his right hand on the bottom rope. Sharmell slides the title belt to Booker and gets on the apron. Booker T goes to hit Dave with the belt, but misses. Dave kicks Booker in the gut and steals the title from Booker. Wham! Batista hits Booker T with the title and gets enough for the pin.

Thoughts: Meh. These two wrestling styles never clicked together. This had some poor timing and a couple slightly blown spots. Everything just felt like it was delayed. The finish came weird to me, also. A babyface such as Batista (a big man face) shouldn’t have to cheat against someone as Booker T. Maybe it happened that way because Batista was scared to get messed up by Booker T, again. Bad match. *

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Fit Finlay (12/01/06).

Big Dave beats on both the heels. Back from commercial, Booker is firmly in control of Batista. Finlay pulls Batista to the apron and boots him right in the head. Finlay slowly takes apart Dave. Batista sets him on top and delivers a muscle buster. Batista and Booker slug it out as Hornswoggle runs through the ring to distract the ref. Finlay uses the disruption to slip in and destroy Batista’s knee with the shillelagh for only two. Booker charges right into the spinebuster. Batista goes for a Dave Bomb on Finlay, but he counters by drilling the bad knee. Dave no sells the knee, and then hits the Big David Bomb on Finlay for the three.

Thoughts: Finlay added some well missing structure in the previous Booker-Batista matches. The match itself was a typical WWE style heels vs. face match. Heel dominates most of the match and attempts to get some heat; then the face does there comeback and overcomes the odds (usually by no selling the offense from the heel, which would make most of the match filler). Thanks for Finlay, though, this was a decent TV match. **1/2

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. The Undertaker (04/01/07).

This match had bad news written all over it. Batista was dogging most of his matches up to this point, and people didn’t think Undertaker would have been able to carry Dave to a decent WM match. Batista goes for a Dave Bomb, but Taker smashes him into the turnbuckle. Batista hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Taker. Batista is smashing Taker’s head in with the punches on top of the turnbuckle, but Taker counters to the Last Ride for a two. Taker goes for another Last Ride, but Batista counters and hits a spear. Batista goes for the Dave bomb and hits hit, but only get another two count. Dave is pissed. Batista goes for another Lametista bomb, but Taker shoves him into the turnbuckle, and then hits the tombstone piledriver for the win.

Thoughts: Just a tad overrated, but still very good. It was really surprising where this match got put on the card, because of all the build it had. Plenty of sources and dirtsheets were hearing rumors of Batista breaking the streak, and sadly I believe that the card placement ruined the unpredictability. Batista seemed very motivated for once in his career and it finally seemed like he cared about something other than a paycheck. What people predicted to be one of the worst WM main events all time, turned into a very good midcard match. ***½

World Heavyweight Title, Steel Cage: Edge vs. Batista (06/03/07).

Edge tries to dash out early. Batista drags him back in. Edge hits the edge-o-matic. Batista delivers a superplex, but instead of trying to escape, he goes up and dives off the top rope. Batista gets fired after Edge beat on him. Batista goes for the Dave bomb, but Edge grabs the cage and tries to escape. Edge hits a low blow. Batista goes the other way and tries to escape, but Edge drops to the floor and wins.

Thoughts: The psychology was present in the match. Batista played the all mighty face who does everything by the book, while Edge was the complete opposite. I do like proper characterization in my matches, but there characters, in the match, really restricted them from doing what they are capable of. **¼

World Heavyweight Title, Undertaker vs. Batista (10/03/2007)

There was a ref scandal before the match. The ref nominations for the match were: Jbl, Foley, and AUSTIN. While JBL was the only person who was on the show before this, everyone still voted for Austin.  What they should have done was to make JBL pull a George Bush and some how “change” the voting. Instead, they just had Austin be the ref and let him beat up Foley and JBL. Batista hits him with punches on the top, but Undertaker counters into the last ride for only 2 .Batista gets up and hits the spinebuster. Batista is puzzled and sells it well. Batisa hits the Batista bomb, but only gets another two. Batista is now furious. Undertaker staggers himself back up. Batista hits another Batista bomb and gets the three count.

Thoughts: They went all out in this match. Very good wrestling match, with both workers not holding back. I do believe JBL would have made a better ref than Austin, because JBL would have added in some heat and drama into it. Batista, as a shocker, gets the clean win over the Deadman. Great match from the big guys. ***¾

Triple H, Batista & Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton, Edge & Umaga (12/10/07).

This was the 15 anniversary show of Raw. On the show, Evolution was supposed to have a reunion. Everyone joined the reunion except Randy Orton (since he was the only heel). Orton then names another stable he was apart of and that is Rated-RKO. Edge comes out, and so does Umaga for no reason, and then they have a match. They do some basic tag stuff. Batista gets a hot tag from Flair, but Umaga  hits the ref and causes the DQ. Rated-RKO runs away. Evolution beats up Umaga just for the sake.

Thoughts: Nothing to rate. Everything in this segment/match was pointless. I don’t even know why this is on the DVD. Batista wasn’t even the main center of attention in any of this. N/R

John Cena vs. Batista (08/17/08).

They are dead even in the feeling out process. Crowd is either booing Cena or Batista(because there “cool).Batista gets a figure-four leglock and the woo chants occur. Cena goes for a FU but Batista elbows out and then Cena in the STFU. Batista makes it to the ropes. Cena goes for the FU, but Batista gets out and applies a weird looking choke. He lets go and then hits the spear but only gets two Cena counters a powerslam and hits the FU and sells the injuries by making a delayed cover. They dish out some blows. Cena wins and comes off for a top rope leg drop, but Batista catches him in the air and hits the Dave Bomb, but only get a two! Batista can’t believe it. Batista hits another Batista bomb and ends the match.

Thoughts: They added in the epic feeling they were looking for by using good power moves, counters, and near-falls. I would give this a great rating, if it wasn’t for the center of the match. The center had bunch of filler. It felt like they ran out of ideas and moves to do. Still a good match. *** ¼

Batista vs. Randy Orton (w/Manu & Cody Rhodes — 12/14/08).
Orton controls most of the match with his sluggish offense. Batista and gives him a DDT. Batista counters the RKO to an unprettier for two. Batista nails him in the corner for punches, and when Randy tries to counter, he accidentally finds himself getting Powerbombed.

Thoughts: Orton’s heat on Batista was so slow and went no where fast. The only thing that could have saved it was, either, good selling or a good comeback, but neither took place because Batista did his average comeback to win the match. Nothing was really that bad from a wrestling standpoint. No botches or anything, but how hard is it to botch when the match is slower than Nick Dinsmore’s character? *3/4

Going Home: This DVD takes through Dave’s life as a punk kid growing up-raised by a single mother, then becoming a bodybuilder and “saving his life” Then, getting into the wresting business from his debuting name: Leviathan; then all the way to becoming one of the most talked about wrestlers today.

This DVD isn’t just about Batista. The DVD also has a good moral behind it, and that is never to give up at what you believe in.  DON’T STOP BELIEVING!

The only match I could say that belongs on there was his Last Man Standing match with Undertaker, but every other important or good match of Batista’s is on there. I actually enjoyed most of the matches on here. Batista is one of those wrestlers who can be on his game sometimes, and completely stink  up the place another night.  On this DVD, you will mostly see Batista on his game; therefor, I recommend this DVD.

Thumbs up for “I walk alone”

TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (Mesas, escaleras y sillas)

Ya son 4 los encuentros confirmados para el último PPV de WWE en el 2009: Tables Ladders and Chairs (Sillas, mesas y escaleras), de ellos, él más reciente encuentro agregado, Batista vs Undertaker, es el único que no tiene formato “extremo”:

1. WWE Title Tables Match: John Cena © vs. Sheamus
2. World Title Match: The Undertaker © vs. Batista
3. ECW Title Ladder Match: Christian © vs. Shelton Benjamin
4. Undisputed Tag Team Title TLC Match: Chris Jericho and The Big Show © vs. DX

¿Acaso será agregado el duelo Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton?

Para ver todas las notas relacionadas a este evento, haz click aquí: TLC 2009

Un buen match completo que presenta TNA, Alissa Flash vs Hamada, un encuentro entre los luchadoras de mucha experiencia (Sobre todo por parte de Hamada)
Ayako Hamada aún no ha sido suficientemente utilizada por TNA, esperemos que pronto se le de la oportunidad de estar retando por el título de Knockouts, pues justamente TNA cuenta con 4 luchadoras de gran credibilidad como campeonas, y eso debe ser aprovechado:

• ODB
• Awesome Kong
• Tara
• Hamada

Notar que las 4 son luchadoras de constitución física fuerte, equivalente al “peso completo” de los hombres, y de ellas sólo Tara podría estar ahora mismo en WWE, donde se exige que las luchadoras tenga peso de “modelos” (Ver el caso de Mickie James por subir un par de kilos)

Y justamente la ironia es que en WWE, difícilmente se les da empuje a los pesos ligeros, en toda su historia WWE ha preferido a los pesos completos (Cena, Batista, Hogan, etc), pero en su división femenil es totalmente lo opuesto

WWE Friday Night Smackdown – November 27, 2009

Alright, this is strange but I can’t find Superstars or Impact, yet I found tonight’s Smackdown. Guess I’m going to do Smackdown first and the other two on the weekend. After three great shows in a row, can WWE keep the momentum going or will Smackdown be the speed bump of the week? Let’s watch and find out.

We start with a recap of Sunday night’s Survivor Series followed by one of my least favorites opening theme songs ever. I miss when they had good opening themes, of course they also had the same music for pay-per-view every year and that was better. Let’s not even get me started on ring music. Nowadays everyone has the same sounding generic ‘alternative’ rock theme and it sucks. The old theme songs were so much better, all you needed to hear was the first couple notes and you knew who was coming.

1. Anyway, back to the show, we open with one half of the tag champions, and your wrestler of the year, Chris Jericho out for his weekly insult the crowd-a-thon. Chris starts with the hype for the TLC pay-per-view, stupid name for a PPV, but whatever. I can’t believe another PPV only three weeks after the last one, this is why there is so little buildup for these matches, and they have no time to build up storylines. I wish they’d cut back to 6 or even 8 PPV’s a year, 12+ is too many. Chris says there has only been 8 TLC matches in history, really? I thought there was less than that actually. There must’ve been some lame ones only on RAW. Crowd chanting “you suck” and Jericho saying no, that’s hilarious. I love his interaction with the crowd, like Sunday at PPV when someone in the crowd told him go back to Toronto and he yelled back I’m from Winnipeg you idiot. This man puts on some of the best promos in this company and never seems to get any respect. Jericho demanding to be the number one contender to the world title, and I have to agree with him. Here comes Theodore Long to rebut what Jericho said. Teddy says he’ll give Jericho what he wants, and Jericho gets all smug, a little too soon for that Chris. Teddy continues by saying tonight Chris Jericho will face Undertaker in a non-title match. Nice, they’ve never faced before and now they’ve faced each other twice in less than a month, why the first meeting between them was not on PPV is beyond me.
2. Cryme Tyme v. Hart Dynasty. Well nice to see the only two real tag teams get some TV time. Does Natalya get better looking every week or what? Good thing she didn’t get her looks from her dad! Someone tell me why Hart Dynasty is not the champs, makes no sense to me. These two are so talented. We start with JTG and Tyson Kidd, and JTG gets the early lead. Kidd with a low dropkick and a tag to the power man. I just don’t see why Cryme Tyme got rehired, they have Mark Henry syndrome, and they stick around but never improve. WWE really needs more real tag times, maybe the Briscoes? Briscoes versus Hart Dynasty would kick seven layers of ass. JTG has unable to make the tag, thus keeping the match watchable. JTG is the better of the two, but that’s like saying I’d rather drink gasoline over urine, know what I mean? Well, so much for that here comes Shad and the quality plummets. Shad gets distracted and DH hits what looked like Kurt Angle’s Olympic Slam for the win. Not a bad match, nice to see Natalya of course, and at least Shad was kept out of the ring for the majority. 3.25/5
3. We go backstage to Teddy Long who’s with John Morrison, John requests a match with Miz, Sheamus or Drew. Vickie sticks her nose in the conversation and says she wants Eric Escobar to face John Morrison for tonight. Teddy says Eric has not earned it; I have to agree as the man has been lame so far. Vickie threatens to call Vince, so Teddy gives in. Crap, I hate to say but I have a feeling JoMo is going to lose the belt to this scrub.
4. CM Punk v. Matt Hardy. CM Punk comes out with a paper bag and some big guy. Recap of last week with Punk and Truth, can’t believe they want Truth to be a main event guy. I don’t think that’s going to work very well, Truth just doesn’t strike me as the guy to main event PPVs. CM Punk has the microphone and once again does a great promo of preaching the evils to people. I’d love to see Punk bring out Brother Love one time for his preaching, that would be great. CM Punk introduces his friend Luke Gallows? Holy crap! That’s freaking Festus, OK this is good, now we’re finding out Festus was a druggie who has been saved by Punk, awesome. What’s Punk going to do next, bring out Jake Roberts! Punk says a new drug will be available on December 1^st; he reaches in the bag and pulls out the Jeff Hardy DVD, legend….wait for it…dary! Punk buries Jeff Hardy as the crowd chants Hardy. Matt has had enough of Punk’s insults and comes out to defend his brother’s honor. Matt has a microphone too and calls Punk a cult leader. Festus gets out the ring as the bell rings, and Festus stays normal! As the match starts, we get a commercial break, nicely timed WWE. Come back from commercial and Punk has the advantage working over Matt’s arm. Punk goes for a springboard move and gets hit with the Side Effect, cool counter from Matt as Matt takes the advantage. Luke “Festus” Gallows grabs Matt from behind for the disqualification, Gallows with a hot shot and the starts pounding on Matt. Gallows holds Matt up and Punk with a vicious spin kick, Gallows holds him in the corner for Punk to hit the knee to the face. Punk says it’s not over till I say it’s over. Gallows locks an odd looking submission hold then drops Hardy down. Why is no one coming out to save Hardy? I was waiting for Truth to save, that never makes sense to me. 1.5/5 match was too quick but the pre and post match stuff was gold.
5. We get a recap of the disgusting humiliation of Mickie James from last week. That was the worst thing I’ve ever seen, there was no reason for that at all. I wish she’d just leave and go to TNA where she would be used properly. We get a Mickie interview and she looks amazing as always. Mickie says she’s not going anywhere and she worked hard to get where she is. She should’ve never been moved from Raw to Smackdown, Mickie’s the most talented diva in WWE.
6. Batista v. Kane. Well this is going to be a bad match looking at who’s in it, and this is for number one contender. Seems like a lose-lose situation for the fans ordering the PPV. Undertaker vs. Kane for the millionth time or Undertaker vs. Batista again. Neither match seems appealing to me, no matter what they do. The match starts as expected, a brawl, Kane has the advantage in the start. Batista rakes the eyes to get the advantage and powers Kane into the corner with a series of shoulder blocks.  Batista uses a rest hold, happens when you have such little stamina. Crowd pretty much dead for this match up, what’s that tell you Vince? I’m sure Kane would be the one to get blamed for that, it can’t be Batista, who does a couple moves and back to the chin lock, yawn.  All we need now is special guest referee Great Khali, and the match will officially enter a new level of suck. Kane goes for the choke slam and Dave grabs the ropes, kick to knee and attempted Batista Bomb fails. Kane goes for the bomb and Batista counters, Batista works over Kane’s knee. Batista with the advantage as we go to commercial, we come back to Batista with a single leg crab. Kane makes the comeback with a series of clotheslines in the corner while limping, hits a big boot for a two count. Kane misses the clothesline from the top rope, Batista with a spear, for a two count. Crowd finally wakes up as Kane hits a backbreaker and gets yet another two count. Kane climbs up top and hits the clothesline this time, Kane readies for the choke slam. Batista blocks and does his Ultimate Warrior impersonation, followed by an attempt at Batista Bomb, Kane reversed and hits the choke slam, Batista lucky to get a foot on the rope. Batista rolls out of the ring; Kane goes after him and gets caught. Kane reverses an Irish whip over the barrier. Batista hits Kane with a chair behind the barricade, ref didn’t see it and Batista wins by count out. 2.5/5 Match picked up at the end but the stuff at the beginning was abysmal. Smart finish with Batista getting away with cheating to win. Batista vs. Undertaker at TLC sounds like a crappy match to me. Thank God for Christian vs. Shelton, that’s going to save the show.
7. Eric Escobar v. John Morrison. Vickie Guerrero comes out to do her catch phrase, who knew “Excuse Me” would become a catch phrase? Vickie introduces Eric Escobar, I think Drew should’ve got this match instead, Eric has not impressed me so far, and at least Drew has been impressive. Cue the music and wind machine as the IC champ, John Morrison, is introduced. This man is the future of the business, but a DVD set is just way too soon. Eric starts with his power advantage pushing John to the corner; Morrison pushes Eric to the ropes and hits a perfect dropkick. Morrison hits an amazing Asai Moonsault to the floor and lands on his feet, is there anything this man can’t do. Vickie grabs John’s arm to distract him, Eric with a baseball slide and then works over John’s back. Eric goes for the pin and John kicks out, OK, I admit it, I’m impressed so far. Escobar continues to work over the back; John hits a high kick to get the advantage back. Morrison caught in the corner and Eric goes for the charge, Morrison moves, hits the kick followed by Starship Pain, Morrison wins and keeps the belt. Whew, glad for that, way too soon for Morrison to drop the title, especially to Escobar. 3.75/5 A very good match, John carried Eric to a very impressive outing. After the match Vickie is in the ring and she doesn’t look happy. Eric tries to explain, and Vickie starts screaming at him, we can hear her loud and clear with no microphone, what a set of lungs! She then slaps Eric in the face and leaves, guess the honeymoon is over! Maybe that’ll be the last we see of both of them, but I doubt it.  We come back from commercial and Vickie is still yelling at Eric, Eric starts insulting Vickie now. Eric says we are done and walks away as Vickie is still seething.
8. Chris Jericho v. Undertaker. Before either man is introduced out comes Batista, still in his gear. He takes a seat and refuses to talk. The match starts with Undertaker powering down Jericho and throws him into the turnbuckle. Jericho taking an early beating, as Undertaker goes for Old School, Jericho kicks Undertaker and Jericho gets clotheslined over the top rope. Commercial break, we come back and Undertaker still has the advantage, is this just going to be a squash match or what? Undertaker drops the leg from the ring apron and glares at Batista, who has yet to say anything. Batista gets up and Undertaker turns to look at him, neither man makes a move. Undertaker comes back in the ring and gets hit with the triangle dropkick. Jericho finally getting some offense on Undertaker, and gets him back in the ring. Jericho hits a missile dropkick from the second rope for a two count. Jericho locks in a rest hold, as silent Batista continues to look on. Undertaker starts to make a comeback and Jericho hits a dropkick for another attempted pin. Jericho locks in a sleeper hold, like anyone submits to that anymore, what does Jericho think he is Brutus Beefcake? Undertaker counters out with a belly to back Suplex. Undertaker with a series of punches to the head, followed by a splash in the corner, snake eyes, big boot, leg drop. Great now Undertaker thinks he’s Hulk Hogan? Undertaker gets Jericho in the shoulders, Jericho slides down, hits a bulldog and lionsault. Undertaker no sells, hits a choke slam then goes for the tombstone. Batista slides in with a chop block, knocking the dead man down. Batista goes outside for a chair as Jericho hits the code breaker. Batista back in with the chair and lays a beating on Undertaker. Undertaker pummeled down by The Animal who stands over Undertaker’s fallen body. 4/5 Very impressive match, would’ve been higher had we had a finish. At least Jericho got some offense in and didn’t look all Barry Horowitz like as it started to look like.

Match Recap:

1. Hart Dynasty over Cryme Tyme 3.25/5
2. Matt Hardy over CM Punk 1.5/5
3. Batista over Kane 2.5/5
4. John Morrison over Eric Escobar 3.75/5
5. Undertaker over Chris Jericho 4/5

Overall not a bad show could’ve been a little better had Matt and Punk had more time and scrap the Batista v. Kane match.  I’ll be back once I find Impact and Superstars, thanks for reading.

Survivor Series 2009, November 22, 2009, Verizon Center, Washington, DC

Announcers: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, & Matt Striker

Opening Match: US Champion The Miz (Captain), Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, & Sheamus vs. IC Champion John Morrison (Captain), Evan Bourne, Fit Finlay, Matt Hardy, & Shelton Benjamin

Bourne and Swagger start off with Bourne using speed to get a rollup for 2.  Swagger gets a suplex and tags Ziggler who hits the jumping neck snap for 1.  Cool looking inverted slam gets 2, and then he gets another 2 off some elbows.  He and Swagger trade off again and Ziggler gets Bourne in a half crab.  Bourne kicks him off and gets a rana for 2.  He follows with a high knee and tags Hardy.  They hit a double elbow from the 2^nd rope.  Hardy hits the Side Effect, then tags Bourne who hits the Air Bourne shooting star press for the 3 count to eliminate Ziggler at 3:59.  No time to celebrate though as in comes Drew McIntyre and he hits the double arm DDT to finish Bourne off at 4:12.  Finlay is in next and he takes McIntyre down with the Finlay Roll.  McIntyre avoids a second one and tags Sheamus which sets up the big showdown between the Irishmen.  That lasts almost no time at all as Miz provides a brief distraction and Sheamus hits the big boot for the pin at 5:14.  Hardy comes in and fares a bit better, but then his Side Effect is blocked and he takes a powerslam for 1.  Sheamus drops some elbows and gets a 2 count, then tags Miz.  Miz controls with a slam and legdrop, and then hooks a rear chinlock.  Hardy fires out but then takes a neckbreaker for 2.  Miz goes to a front facelock, which Hardy escapes as well, and follows up with a Russian legsweep.  Miz tags Swagger, who cuts Hardy off from making the tag.  He controls for a bit before Hardy finally escapes and tags Morrison.  Morrison comes in hot with a dropkick and knee for 2.  He corner whip is reversed and he goes down, but Swagger misses the pump splash.  Miz tries to provide the distraction again, but to no avail as Morrison still connects with a springboard kick.  The cover draws everyone in and in the melee, Scott Armstrong takes a knee to the back of the head from Sheamus.  He stays down and they would later announce him has having suffered a concussion.  But it’s a big break for Justin King as he gets to step in and save the day.  After everyone is cleared out, Morrison takes Swagger down and connects with Starship Pain for the pin at 12:09.  Miz jumps him, nailing a clothesline in the corner and a double ax off the top for 2.  Benjamin takes a blind tag and surprises Miz with a rollup for 2.  He then hits a back suplex.  Stinger Splash follows and then a Northern Lights suplex gets 2.  Corner whip sees him run into a boot though, but he follows by getting his own boot up on Miz’s charge.  German suplex gets 2 and he sets up a neckbreaker, but Sheamus nails him to break it up.  Miz follows with the Skull Crushing Finale to end Benjamin’s night at 14:59.  Hardy comes back in as McIntyre gets the tag.  Hardy nails a couple of clotheslines for 2 and a headbutt, but he misses a charge.  He still hits a neckbreaker though and follows with the 2^nd rope legdrop for 2.  He hits another neckbreaker and goes up, but after a distraction by Sheamus, he misses a moonsault.  McIntyre gets the double arm DDT for the 3 count at 17:11.  This leaves Morrison one on three, and the odds take over quickly.  He gets caught by McIntyre and then Sheamus gets the tag and pounds away.  Tag to Miz who’s in with some kicks.  Morrison comes back with a dropkick, but Miz tags right away to Sheamus.  He hits a clothesline and runs Morrison to the corner where the partners beat on him while he distracts the ref.  Morrison tries fighting back and goes for a springboard move, but gets nailed coming down.  Sheamus the hits the Razor’s Edge, and that’s it for Morrison at 20:55.  Survivors: The Mix, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre.  Obviously the heel team has the guys they want to protect and build up so it makes sense for them to win.  Ziggler and Swagger, who were seemingly the pet projects a few months ago, appear to have been shuffled downwards, only being used as token eliminations for the face team here.  I have to say that I’m not confident about a main event push for Sheamus, but I guess we’ll find out next month at TLC as he’s getting thrown right in there with John Cena.  **1/2

Next we get a dumb segment with team Kofi as they reassure Christian there’s nothing awkward about him being the only white guy on the team.  Christian of course manages to make it awkward by the end by rapping about it.  Just a dumb segment that does nothing to make me care about any of the guys, or the match they have coming up, but someone must have thought it was hilarious, I guess.

Rey Mysterio vs. Dave Batista

After the big turn by Batista last month, the feud comes to a head here in Batista’s hometown, which means he’s the crowd favourite regardless.  Definitely an example of poor planning there.  Mysterio starts off going for the knee, and quickly sets up a 619, but Batista rolls out.   Batista drags him to the floor and runs him to the apron.  Back in, Mysterio kicks him and tries a springboard, but Batista ducks it and nails a clothesline.  Mysterio keeps managing to escape Batista’s power moves and clips the knee for 2.  He sets up the 619 again, but Batista catches him.  He sets up the Batista Bomb, but Mysterio takes him to the floor with a rana.  Mysterio follows with a baseball slide and then leaps at him off the apron.  Batista then just starts no selling and beats Mysterio up.  Mysterio knees him coming in and hits a 619 to the back to set up the regular version, which also hits.  After the springboard press hits, he goes up and does the Eddie Guerrero dance to big boos prior to hitting knees on a frog splash.  Batista then gets him with a spear and spinebuster.  Batista Bomb follows, but rather then cover, he hits another, and then another before the ref stops it at 6:49.  Batista is not done though as he comes in with a chair.  The crowd wants him to kill Mysterio, which is probably not the reaction they were going for.  He teases doing nothing for a bit, but then ends up dropping Mysterio with a spinebuster on the chair.  Mysterio does a stretcher job and so begins yet another period of surgery and rehab for him.  *1/2

Randy Orton lets his team know that they’ve failed to live up to his expectations so far, and that they’d better come through tonight.  Punk stands up to him in a tease of dissention, but nothing comes of it.  At least this segment focused on the match and the issues between the guys rather then lame comedy.

Randy Orton (Captain), CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, & Ted Dibiase vs. Kofi Kingston (Captain), MVP, Mark Henry, ECW Champion Christian, & R-Truth

Orton and Henry are in first with Henry whipping him to the corner and nailing a clothesline.  He takes shots at the entire heel team and then puts Orton in a bearhug, but Legacy comes in and breaks it up.  That sets up an RKO and Henry is done at 0:53.  MVP comes in as Rhodes gets the tag.  Rhodes gets MVP to the corner and they go to work with Dibiase, Regal, and then Punk all getting tagged in in succession.  Punk stays in and works him over a bit longer, but soon gets tossed away and MVP tags Truth.  These guys have an issue going so they get some heat.  Truth gets a hiptoss and then flips over him on a corner whip.  However, Rhodes distracts him and Punk takes advantage to nail the GTS for the pin at 3:14.  Christian comes in and rolls him up for 2.  He nails a forearm off the ropes for 1 before Punk knees him.  After a slam he tags Dibiase who comes in with a double stomp off the 2^nd rope for 2.  He follows with a powerslam for another 2.  He tries hooking the Dream, but can’t get it.  Christian counters to a Killswitch, which Dibiase in turn counters to a catapult to the buckle.  Christian comes back out with a kick and then a sunset flip gets 3 at 5:04.  Is Dibiase being shuffled down too?  His issues with Orton have pretty much disappeared and here he’s just beaten like an afterthought five minutes in.  Regal comes in for Team Orton while Christian tags Kofi who comes in with a dropkick, some punches in the corner, and an uppercut for 2.  He’s not really getting a superstar reaction though so expect them to give up on him any time now.  Corner whip is reversed with Kofi leaping back off the ropes, but Regal moves and Kofi hits the mat.  Tag to Rhodes, who drops a knee before tagging back to Regal.  Kofi fires back and tags MVP who comes right in with a big boot on Regal for 3 at 6:51.  Rhodes comes in off the top with a bodypress, but MVP rolls through for 2.  He then gets a suplex for another 2.  Tag Christian, whose tornado DDT is blocked and Rhodes kicks him down for 2.  To a bodyscissors, but Christian gets on top of him for 2 and forces a break.  Rhodes then clotheslines him for 2 and tags Orton.  Orton is in with a dropkick for 2 and works Christian over for a bit before tagging Rhodes back in.  Kneedrop by Rhodes misses and that allows a tag to MVP.  He’s in with multiple clotheslines and a facebuster.  He goes Ballin’ but Orton then distracts him and he takes the Cross Rhodes for the pin at 10:11.  Kofi immediately rolls him up for 2 and then tags Christian who comes in with a shot off the top.  Tag back to Kofi who gets a springboard double ax handle for 2, followed by a snapmare and splash for another 2.  Tag to Christian, on whom Rhodes is able to briefly take advantage, but he then quickly falls victim to the Killswitch and is pinned at 11:36.  See, now unlike his partner, Rhodes at least got to job to the guy’s finisher, and not only that he also got an elimination before being eliminated himself.  I don’t understand.  Orton comes in next and works Christian over.  He drops a knee and then takes a cheap shot at Kofi.  Christian gets a cradle for 2 and then Punk provides the distraction to set up the RKO, but Christian counters to the Killswitch.  He covers, but Punk saves at 2.  Christian beats him up and tosses him, but then misses a charge on Orton and takes an RKO for the 3 count at 13:27.  Kofi is in as the last member of his team, but Orton wants nothing to do with him and tags out to Punk.  After this Orton actually goes as far as not even standing on the apron for the entire time Punk and Kofi go at it.  Kofi wins a slugfest which leads to them trying and missing the finishers.  Kofi does get a dropkick and the SOS for 2.  He misses a splash in the corner though and Punk works him over with knees and kicks.  Kick to the back gets 2 and then he uses a headscissors.  Kofi escapes, but ends up charging into a powerslam.  Now Punk goes to a bodyscissors forcing me to note that his moveset in this segment would have Gorilla Monsoon impressed.  Kofi elbows his way out, but a splash hits knees.  Punk gets him with a superplex for 2, followed by the running knee.  He goes for a bulldog, but that gets countered to a back suplex.  Kofi goes up, and after fighting Punk off a couple of times, he gets a crossbody for 2.  He follows with a dropkick and clothesline, and then hits the Boom Drop.  Orton distracts him which allows Punk a rollup, but Kofi rolls through and gets the 3 count at 20:42.  Orton is immediately in, but Kofi is aware and catches him with Trouble In Paradise which gets another 3 count at 20:50.  Survivor: Kofi Kingston.  So the story is that Kofi beat two former World Champions in an incredibly short span of time.  Really good match here, but as noted Kofi is not quite to the superstar level of reaction yet.  If they keep it up, he may get there, but it’s gonna take some time.  ***1/2

World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show

Obviously the theme of our two Title matches tonight is that the Champion is defending in a Triple Threat Match against both members of a regular tag team.  Jericho and Show have teased some dissention leading up to this, but none the les they start right off with a double team on Taker.  Show nails a clothesline and then Jericho clotheslines Taker to the floor.  Taker lands on his feet though and drags Jericho out, ramming him to the barrier in the process.  Show slowly follows, but gets nailed as well, but then Taker misses a charge at Jericho and hits the barrier.  They set Taker up for the Big Right Hand, but Show opts to nail him in the gut for some reason.  Why would you do that when he’s wide open like he was?  Jericho follows up with a mic shot and then they get Taker in the ring for more double teaming.  Show goes to whip Jericho into Taker, but Taker moves and Jericho hits the post.  Now Taker takes over with a flying clothesline on Show and a couple of bodyblocks on Jericho.  He follows with Snake Eyes, but now Show drags him back to the floor.  Taker manages to send him to the post anyways while Jericho then springboards right into a fist from Taker.  He sets up Old School, but Jericho crotches him.  After a couple of tries, he gets a superplex for 2.  Lionsault hits knees, but he’s unhurt and goes for the Walls instead.  He gets it on and Taker struggles for quite awhile before Show comes in and breaks it in the first sign that it’s everyone for themselves here.  Show then chokeslams Jericho, and goes to do the same thing to Taker, but Taker counters to a DDT.  Jericho sneaks over and gets covers on both guys for 2.  They all slug away now until Show and Taker grab each other by the throat.  Jericho grabs the physical representation of the Championship and goes to nail Taker, but he ducks and Show takes the shot instead.  The announcers play up that Jericho may have intentionally nailed Show, but if that’s what they were going for it didn’t look like it at all as Taker clearly pulled Show forward into it and there was no hesitation by Jericho.  Taker then takes Jericho down with a big boot for 2.  He stomps Show to the floor and sets up the Last Ride on Jericho, but Jericho has the, oh screw it, the belt and clocks Taker on the upswing.  That gets a couple of two counts which frustrates Jericho.  He goes for a Tombstone, for no conceivable reason other than so Taker can reverse it to his own, which sure enough happens, but Show comes in and knocks Taker out with the Big Right Hand.  Show covers, but Jericho saves at 2.  Jericho then covers, but Show breaks that one up at 2 as well.  Now Jericho goes for the Codebreaker on Show, but it’s blocked and Show hits the BRH on him to put him out.  He then goes for the chokeslam on Taker, but Taker hooks him in the Hell’s Gates and that gets the submission to retain at 13:39.  Not a bad match, but not that great either.  Undertaker is seemingly going on to face Batista, while any issues between Jericho and Show are set aside as they are currently announced to defend the Titles against DX at TLC.  **1/2

We get a promo by the survivors of Team Miz as they put themselves over.  Now this was good stuff.  No stupid comedy or anything.  They just came out and talked about what they’ve done and what they’re going to do next.  Was that hard?  The writers must have been on vacation for something like this to slip by.  Either that or they spent all their time working on Christian’s rap.

Women’s Champion Michelle McCool (Captain), Layla, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, & Alicia Fox vs. Mickie James (Captain), Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve, & Divas Champion Melina

Ok, here we go with the token women’s match, which is bound to be bad, but they’ve spent all night talking about “tradition” and that’s as long running of a tradition as any in this company I guess so it makes sense.  Kelly and Layla are in first and they trade some shots with Kelly then hitting two clotheslines and a legdrop for 3 at 1:16.  Michelle and Gail go next with Gail hitting a dropkick and getting a rollup for 1.  Michelle then gets her with the Styles Clash for 3 at 2:05.  Eve tries a rollup for 1 and then Michelle tags Jillian who drops an elbow for 2.  She gets a hairtoss and then Eve misses a dropkick and Jillian covers for 2.  She goes for the handspring elbow but gets kicked in the back and Eve comes off the top rope with a sunset flip for 3 at 3:35.  Beth is in and immediately hits Eve with the Glam Slam for the pin at 3:52, which is followed by Kelly also taking a Glam Slam for another elimination at 4:09.  Mickie is in next, hitting a dropkick and then pinning Beth with a crucifix at 4:44.  This is rather brisk so far.  That’s not a bad thing though.  Beth nails her after the fact which lets Alicia Fox sneaks in for the cover and get a 1 count.  Alicia then gets a Northern Lights suplex for another 1.  They get backed to the corner and Mickie kicks her off, and then hits a top rope Thesz press for the 3 count at 6:25.  Michelle comes in and pounds Mickie, dropping a knee and a leg for 2.  They trade some shots, but Michelle is able to cut her off from making the tag.  She stomps Mickie down and gets a 2 count, but this time Mickie gets away and tags Melina.  Melina is in with a spear and she pounds away.  She gets a spin kick, followed by a rope straddle and faceplant for 2.  She does her “Matrix” avoiding of a big boot, but Michelle ends up dropping her anyways.  She hits a belly to belly suplex for 2 and then sets up a powerbomb, but Melina rolls through and gets the 3 count at 10:39.  Survivors: Mickie James and Melina.  Nothing more to say here.  ½*

Main Event, WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

So like the earlier Title match we again have the Champ against a tag team, but in this case Shawn Superkicks HHH right off the bat and puts him out of the ring.  This gets a big positive reaction from the crowd by the way.  Even Cena seems stunned by this course of action.  So now he and Shawn go one on one with Shawn hitting a neckbreaker, followed by a Thesz press.  Corner whip is reversed and Cena nails a bulldog off of it.  Suplex gets 2 for Cena.  He sets up the Attitude Adjustment, but Shawn counters it to a DDT for 2.  Shawn then clips the leg and hooks the figure four.  Cena eventually reverses and Shawn breaks the hold.  Cena goes for the shoulderblocks, but misses the second one and goes to the floor.  Shawn nails a dive and then preps the announce table, but takes too long and is set up for the AA again.  But finally, after about five minutes, HHH has recovered from that Superkick and makes the save, but only because he wants to put Shawn though the table himself, which he does with a spinebuster.  He then gets Cena in the ring and hits him with another spinebuster for 2.  After working Cena over a bit, he gets 2 off a corner whip and a neckbreaker.  He sets up for the Pedigree, but Cena blocks and catapults him to the buckle.  HHH comes out of there though with a clothesline for 2.  Cena gets sent off, but connects with a shoulderblock.  He follows with a second one and then hits the Protobomb.  Five Knuckle Shuffle hits and sets up the AA, but now Shawn makes the save, sending Cena to the post.  Now we have a DX showdown, but HHH has to stop and toss Cena for good measure and that allows Shawn to hit him with an inverted atomic drop.  Irish whip is reversed and HHH hits the high knee.  He then gets the facebuster, but Shawn comes back with a clothesline.  He kips up, but is right into a HHH spinebuster.  Shawn then backdrops out of a Pedigree attempt and goes up, but Cena is there to crotch him.  Cena now goes up for the legdrop on HHH, but that misses.  Shawn is up top again, and comes off with the elbow on Cena.  HHH tosses Shawn, but quickly gets hooked in the STF by Cena.  Shawn makes it back to save though by hooking a crossface on Cena, who powers to his feet, then drops Shawn and puts him in the STF.  Shawn makes the ropes, and after they break, he gets Cena with the Superkick.  He hits another on HHH as well, but HHH falls on top of Cena and the ref counts, but Cena kicks out at 2.  The crowd was convinced that was the finish.  Cena then hits HHH with an Attitude Adjustment.  Both Shawn and Cena crawl to make the cover on HHH and the there at the same time, but HHH kicks out at 2 anyways.  Another Superkick is blocked by Cena and then Shawn goes for a piledriver on HHH.  HHH backdrops Shawn to avoid it, but he lands right on Cena’s shoulders.  Shawn slips off and hits another Superkick on HHH, but turns right into an Attitude Adjustment.  Cena opts to cover HHH instead, but still gets the 3 count to retain at 21:14.  Really good stuff here, but then I would expect nothing less with these guys as they’ve all done so many main event three ways that they could probably put one on in their sleep.  Cena will have a bigger challenge next month as he gets to face Sheamus, who is completely untested in a big match environment, so we’ll see what kind of miracle working abilities he’s got.  As mentioned earlier, DX goes on to what will probably be the real main event of TLC to face Jericho and Show for the Unified Tag Team Titles.  For this match, it squeaks ahead to take match of the night honours at ****.

Final Thoughts: If this year’s WWE PPV’s could be summed up in one phrase, I think it would be “Solid, but completely unremarkable”.  From an in ring perspective, they rarely put on a bad show and this was certainly no exception, but there’s just nothing there that’s gonna make you remember this show even a few months down the line.  The Divas match was the lowlight, but that’s to be expected, and Mysterio/Batista wasn’t that good, but it worked for the story they were telling so it’s forgivable.  Main Event was the big highlight, although it suffers from the dreaded Same Old Match Syndrome.  Thankfully they do appear to be legitimately addressing that issue, although it will take time to see if they’re doing it with the right guys.  As for Survivor Series, I can’t say it was a bad show overall.  In fact, it gets a Thumbs Up, but the truth is that if you missed it, it’s not a big deal which is becoming more and more of the trend.

source: PWInsider.com

Undertaker is expected to retain the World Heavyweight Championship through the Royal Rumble, at which point he will drop the title to Batista.

There has been talk of running the match at WWE’s annual January pay-per-view spectacular with Batista heading into WrestleMania with the belt.

The feud has already commenced as Batista defeated Kane at last night’s SmackDown taping in Bridgeport, Connecticut to become the No. 1 contender to Undertaker’s World Heavyweight Championship. The two megastars will square off in a Chairs Match at next month’s WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view.

Primeiro Logotipo que desenvolvi, em Março/2006. É usado pela JUBAC (Juventude Batista de Ceres) da PIBC (Primeira Igreja Batista de Ceres).

Credit: PWInsider

*Smackdown! opens with Chris Jericho in the ring discussing the TLC match for the Unified Tag Team championships at the TLC PPV. He then turns his attention to the announced Batista vs. Kane match tonight, noting it will name the new top contender for the Undertaker’s World championship. He claims he should be in the match. Teddy Long comes out and announced Jericho vs. The Undertaker in a non-title match for later.

*The Hart Dynasty defeated Cryme Time.

*Backstage, Vickie Guerrero and Eric Escobar demand Teddy Long grant Escobar a Intercontinental championship bout. Long makes the match and says it will be his only shot.

*CM Punk comes out with Festus and a brown paper bag. Punk introduces Drew Gallows (that name may not be 100% correct but that’s what it sounded like), formerly Festus. Punk said his friends gave him pills in the past and that’s why Festus was in the state he was in, but that’s in the past. Punk said that what he has inside the bag comes out 12/1 and he’s scared that it will be available to the public. Punk pulls the Jeff Hardy DVD. Out comes Matt Hardy, who defends his brother. This leads to…

*Matt Hardy defeats CM Punk by DQ after Festus interferes. They beat down Hardy afterwards.

*Backstage, Mickie James is asked about Michelle McCool’s video last week. James said that no matter how juvenile Layla and McCool get, she’s worked hard to get here and she’s not leaving Smackdown.

*Batista defeated Kane by countout to become the new number one contender to the World championship.

*WWE Intercontinental champion John Morrison defeated Eric Escobar. After the bout, Vickie Guerrero yelled at, slapped and spit on Escobar.

*Backstage, Escobar and Guerrero argue. Escobar tells Vickie that she makes him sick and every time she kisses him, he has to wash his mouth out with disinfectant. He tells her they are over.

*Undertaker defeated Chris Jericho by DQ in a non-title match. Batista joined Matt Striker and Todd Grisham on commentary for the match. Taker was going for the Tombstone when Batista hit the ring and took out his leg. Batista hit Taker repeatedly with chairshots. Batista flexed while standing over Taker. Batista and Jericho punched Taker. C.M. Punk ran in and it became a three-on-one. Kane finally came out and cleaned house. Taker chokeslammed Batista. Taker then chokeslammed Punk while Kane chokeslammed Jericho at the same time. Taker posed with belt and Kane. They left together and posed at the top of the ramp to a huge pop to close the show.

wwe.com

WWE presenta SmackDown!, desde Bridgeport, Conn.

RESULTADOS de las grabaciones que tuvieron lugar el 24 de noviembre

• Inicia Smackdown!
• Jericho está en el ring, hablando del match que Jerishow tendrá en TLC 2009 ante DX
• Luego habla sobre el encuentro de esta noche, Batista vs Undertaker, y dice que él debería estar en ese match, en respuesta Teddy Long aparece, y señala que esta noche Jericho enfrentará al Undertaker en un non-title match
• 1) The Hart Dynasty (DH Smith y Tyson Kidd) vencieron a Cryme Tyme – La rivalidad entre estas dos parejas continúa (Posiblemente porque NO HAY más parejas formales en Smackdown)
• Backstage: Vickie Guerrero y Eric Escobar exígen a Teddy Long, que le permitan a Escobar, una oportunidad ante Morrison por el Intercontinental Championship. Long acepta

• CM Punk aparece con Festus y una bolsa de papel, Punk presenta a Festus, dice que sus amigos le dieron pastillas en el pasado, y esa es la razón por la cuál Festus está en ese estado, pero eso acabó. Punk señala que  que lo que tiene en la bolsa es similar, y que es espantoso que esté disponible para el público. Punk saca de la bolsa en nuevo DVD de Jeff Hardy
• Matt aparece para defender a su hermano

• 2) Matt Hardy venció a CM Punk vía DQ gracias a una interferencia de Festus, al final ambos atacan a Matt
• Backstage: Mickie James habla sobre el video de Michelle McCool de la semana pasada, donde la llama “vieja”, Mickie dice que no le importa, que ha trabajado duro para llegar aquí, y que no dejará Smackdown
• 3) Encuentro por el contendiente No.1: Batista venció a Kane por cuenta fuera, todo señala que Batista enfrentará al Undertaker en el PPV TLC 2009
• 4) Intercontinental Title match: John Morrison venció a Eric Escobar via Starship Pain
• Vickie regañó a gritos a Eric luego del match, y le dijo que estaba acabado
• Backstage: Eric encuentra a Vickie, le dice que es desagradable y termina su relación con ella, la cara de Vickie lo dice todo
• 5) Non-title match: Undertaker venció a Chris Jericho por DQ
• Batista estuvo en la mesa de los comentaristas y atacó al Undertaker, provocando la descalificación
• Jericho, Batista y CM Punk atacan en conjunto al Taker
• Pero Kane aparece para salvarlo y aplicar chokeslams combinados
• Fin del show
  
  

ANTECEDENTES

Ahora que Batista ha eliminado a Rey Mysterio, va por su sueño de ser campeón de peso Completo, pero primero tendrá que pasar sobre el hermano del Undertaker, Kane.

Survivor Series 2009 tuvo un poco de todo, desde un explosivo Kofi Kingston derrotando en forma casi simultánea a dos ex-campeones WWE, la sorpresiva derrota del Team Morrison, o un previsible resultado del match Mysterio-Batista

• Resultados completos Survivor Series 2009

wwe.com

WWE presenta Survivor Series 2009 desde Washington, D.C.

Cobertura patrocinada por Smackdown vs RAW 2010, a la venta en Gameplanet y otros puntos de venta.

Resultados en proceso:

• Dark Match: Santino Marella venció a Chavo Guerrero con rollup.
• Video de la historia de Survivor Series PPV, con el debut de The Undertaker. Pirotecnia y la bienvenida por parte de Michael Cole.
• 1. Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: TEAM MORRISON: John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay vs. TEAM MIZ: The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger
• Evan Bourne y Jack Swagger inician las acciones,  Ziggler entra a querer amedrentar a Bourne.
• Entra Matt Hardy y entre él y Bourne eliminan a Ziggler.
• Drew McIntyre entra y aplica una DDT sobre Bourne y con esto queda eliminado.
• Finlay entre, Sheumus por parte de los rudos, después de un rato, pasan la acción a Bourne y a Swagger, Morrison aplica the Starship Pain sobre Swagger con lo que es eliminado.
• Miz y Shelton Benjamin sobre el ring, el Campeón de los Estados Unidos aplica su The Skull Crushing sobre el moreno. Benjamin es eliminado.
• McIntyre aplica su DDT sobre Matt Hardy que es eliminado.
• Al final The Miz elimina a Morrison.
• Sobrevivientes: Sheamus, Drew y Miz.

• En backstage, los miembros de Team Kofi , discuten, Christian alega ser muy diferente al resto de los miembros pues el es Campeón de la ECW
• 2. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
• Mysterio emprende al ofensiva contra Batista, de inmediato quiere aplicar una619 pero Batista lo evade, luego The Animal toma el control de la lucha con un Batista-Bomb pero ahora es Batista el que se escapa, lo pone para 619, y ahora va por una plancha cuando Batista lo atrapa y aplica una lanza, luego le propina una serie de  Batista-Bombs, lo que hace que el referí pare la lucha.
• Ganador, por decreto del réferi: Batista
• Después de la lucha Batista sigue ensañado sobre Rey y le tunde con una silla.
• 3. Traditional Survivor Series Match: TEAM KINGSTON: Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, MVP, R-Truth and Christian vs. TEAM ORTON: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, William Regal and CM Punk
• Entra primero el equipo Orton
• Henry limpia la casa, aplica un Bear Hug sobre  Orton, pero The Viper se safa y le aplica un RKO, para eliminarlo.
• Eventualmente entran MVP y Cody Rhodes para dejarle toda la acción a CM Punk posteriormente, que elimina a R-Truth.
• Christian elimina a Ted DiBiase, que casi no vio acción.
• Christian esta inspirado y ahora se sigue con William Regal.
• Rhodes y MVP, frente a frente, el de segunda generación elimina al más valioso.
• Entra Kofi sobre Rhodes, para sorprenderlo, lo pone espaldas planas, intenta rendirlo, pero nada, la cuenta llega a 2.99
• Christian se queda ahora frente a Rhodes, está inspirado y elimina a Cody con corto circuito.
• Al final quedan Christian y Kofi Kingston vs. CM Punk y Randy Orton. Christian es eliminado por Randy Orton.
• Sorpresivamente en menos de 7 segundo Kofi elimina a CM Punk y  Randy Orton con Ranita y Patada resuelve problemas, respectivamente.
• Único sobreviviente: Kofi Kingston.
• 4. WHC – The Undertaker © vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show.
• Los campeones de parejas son presentados por separado.
• Jericho intenta vencer en dos ocasiones a The Undertaker, en una de ellas lo nokea con el Campeonato, pero siempre The Big Show impide que el canadiense se haga del título, es tal la discordia entre los Campeones de parejas que el máximo Campeón de la WWE, noquea a Jericho en un descuido y aplica su triángulo del infierno a The Big Show que se rinde golpeando la lona.
• Ganador y aún Campeón: The Undertaker.
• Josh Mathews en entrevista con Sheamus, The Miz y Drew McIntyre, que hablan de su victoria.
• 5. Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: TEAM MICKIE: Mickie James, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Gail Kim vs. TEAM MICHELLE: Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla, Alicia Fox.
• Kelly Kelly elimina a Layla con patada guillotina.
• McCool elimina a Gail Kim con variante de Code Red.
• Eve elimina a Jillian con ranita
• Beth Phonix elinia a Eve y a Kelly Kelly con su movimiento final en menos de 30 segundos.
• Mickie James elimina con una variante de casita a Beth Phonix, molesta The Glamazon la golpea una vez que es descalificada.
• Pese a estar débil Mickie elimina a Alicia Fox.
• Melina llega y quiere ayudar  Mikie, que ya está muy diezmada.
• Melina elimina a Michelle McCool.
• Sobrevivientes: Melina y Mickie James
• 7. WWE – John Cena © vs. HBK vs. HHH
• DX, a diferencia de Jerishow, si son presentados en pareja. Luego entra el campeón más polémico de la historia como es anunciado Cena.
• Al inicio de la lucha ante  el asombro de todos Shawn Michaels le aplica una patada biónica a Triple H. John Cena queda perplejo, pero no se des concentra. Un buen rato de intercambio de llaves entre Michaels y Cena, para que luego Triple H regrese a la acción, ahora Triple H deja en el piso a Michaels.
• Intercambio de golpes y llaves entre Triple H y Michaels, Cena después de un rato hace varias tacleadas para tunbar a Triple H  “You Can’t See Me”, pero antes de que lo derrote, entra Michaels, ahora lo avienta contra el poste.
• Cena toma con STFU a Michaels, quiere tomar la cuerda el rompe corazones para acabar con el castigo. HBK se salva.
• HBK aplica su Sweet Chin Music sobre Cena y una vez más HHH, entra, ahora es entre Hunter y  Cena que va por su Attitude Adjustment, llega Michaels, Cena está exhausto, ahora HBK trata una Sweet Chin Music lo bloquea, desesperado Michaels aplica su Sweet Chin Music sobre HHH. Cena aplica su Attitude Adjustment sobre HBK, cubre a HHH., luego de un azotón y Cena retiene el título
• Ganador y aún campeón: John Cena
• Fin del show.

Antecedentes:

• Pronósticos para Survivor Series 2009.
• A un año de distancia como ha cambiado la WWE?
• Dream Teams en Survivor Series
• Rey Mysterio vs. Batista

Drama’s Smackdown Report 11/20/09

Friday Night Smackdown!
November 20, 2009
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Todd Grisham and Matt Striker

OPENING ANIMATION

Todd welcomes us to Philadelphia, and tonight the Brothers of Destruction reunite as Kane & the World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker faces the Unified Tag Team Champions, Jeri-Show. However right now we UNLEASH…THE ANIMAL.

Batista vs. Matt Hardy

Batista comes out with his new entrance…no pyro…no smiles…no nothing. Matt Hardy’s a pretty good guy to have in the ring with Batista, as he has credibility and takes a pretty good beating. Although honestly Batista should go on a real big time jobber squash, ala Sid in 1992. Just show up on the other shows and start creaming guys. He drops Hardy with 3 straight spinebusters, then the Demon Bomb for the win. WINNER: Batista (Grade: 1.5)

-We go back to last week and the contract signing between Rey and Batista, where Rey flipped the table onto Batista, then Batista flipped out. We go backstage and Josh Matthews tries to talk to Batista, but he cuts him off and says Rey made 3 major mistakes. 1) He cost Batista the World Title, 2) He signed the Hold Harmless agreement, and 3) He embarrassed him last week. Well at Survivor Series, Batista says he will take care of Rey Mysterio, with no remorse and no holding back.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-We return with a video montage of the Brothers of Destruction. It’s amazing how much they pump this up considering their matches are always a workrate-starved trainwreck. We then go backstage with Teddy Long, who’s interrupted by Vicky Guerrero and Eric Escobar. Vicky gives him crap about teaming the Brothers of Destruction tonight, that it will wreck the main event at Survivor Series. She’s also mad that her boyfriend Eric Escobar hasn’t been on the show. Vicky says there’s no wonder Teddy’s on probation. Teddy’s about to throw them out when Mr. McMahon comes into the office. He’s also perturbed that the Brothers of Destruction are teaming tonight and can ruin the main event of Survivor Series. So having said that, Vince decides to have Vicky Guerrero as Smackdown’s consultant to help Teddy with the show. Vince leaves and Vicky dances and screams in celebration. Ok, this idea completely sucks. No offense to the great Eddie Guerrero, but without Edge she is so damn annoying.

Drew McIntyre vs. Finlay

We go back the last few weeks and Drew’s beatdowns of Finlay. Drew takes the mike and says Finlay’s more like a crying old lady than a fighter. Pretty stiff match as Finlay’s really throwing potatoes out there. It’s a pretty short, as McIntyre takes control and hits the big DDT for the win. Not much more to say. WINNER: Drew McIntyre (Grade: 1.5)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Out comes CM Punk our straight edge superstar. In the ring is a table with 3 upside down buckets with X’s on them. Punk says tonight he’s going to do for the WWE Universe what should have been done a long time ago. Punk says everyone must recover, and the first step is a confession. He says everyone must admit that they have a problem. He says everyone must stand or touch the TV at home and admit that they’re all addicts. Everyone is in denial and can’t admit their problems to anyone. Punk says he’s here to teach everyone how to survive. He lifts the first bucket and it’s a carton of cigarettes. Punk says no one cares that inhaling cigarette smoke is poisonous and they might as well throw their lungs in the garbage. Tonight Punk will throw the cigarettes in the garbage because that’s how they survive. That’s how straight edge lives. Under the second bucket is a bottle of pills. Punk says this helps weak people hide pain, suffering and cowardess. So these are going in the garbage too. Next is a bottle of whiskey. Punk says this is the worst of them all. Alcoholics are nothing more than weaklings who live in a cloud because they don’t want to admit reality or their own lives. He pours the whiskey in the garbage can. Suddenly R-Truth comes out. He goes “WHAT’S UP” to the crowd, then tells Punk that this is wrong and he doesn’t like him. Truth kicks Punk in the gut, then drops him with a DDT and pours all the crap in the garbage can all over Punk. Then Truth nails Punk in the gut with the garbage can. This is a good feud as its pushing R-Truth to the forefront and CM Punk is staying warm till his next Title feud.

Intercontinental Championship
Two out of Three Falls match
John Morrison © vs. Dolph Ziggler

This is Ziggler’s chance to show he’s a legit in-ring guy and not some 5 minute hump with blonde hair. Morrison gets the first fall with Starship Pain. A few minutes later Ziggler gets the second fall with his “Zig-Zag” finisher. See this is what sucks about TV matches. This should have been paced much better and really let these two guys wrestle for 20 minutes, eat up the middle of the show. The third fall is pretty good, but 2 out of 3 falls matches can’t be rushed. Some really good action during the last fall, and Morrison hits Starship Pain to finish it. Great match, but rushed. Let these guys go 20 minutes and show that Ziggler is the real thing. WINNER: John Morrison (Grade 2.5)

COMMERCIAL BREAK (Including a promo for the new Hulk Hogan DVD)

Mickie James vs. Layla

The match is nothing, as Mickie takes her out in about a minute. WINNER: Mickie James (Grade: 0)

-After the match Michelle McCool does a skit where she calls Mickie a pig. Actually pretty rough stuff and Mickie cries as she walks down the aisle.

Rey Mysterio vs. Tyson Kidd

Batista is at the broadcast table and he’s not said a word to anybody. The match is pretty good and Tyson Kidd needs more singles matches to give himself an identity. It ends quick as Kidd is thrown to the floor, then Batista gets up and throws Kidd to the barricade. WINNER: Tyson Kidd by disqualification (Grade: 1.5)

-Rey then hits a West Coast Pop on Batista through the broadcast table. Batista chases him around but can’t catch him. We go backstage and Jeri-show is talking. Jericho says they must work as a team. Big Show says he’s looking ahead to Survivor Series and becoming the World Heavyweight Champion. Jericho says that selfishness will lead to their downfall tonight. Big Show says tonight will be fine, as Show has tagged with both guys and knows how they tick. Show asks Jericho if he’s scared. Jericho says he’s not scared of Big Show nor is he intimidated by the Undertaker. Show leaves…then the lights go out. Jericho starts freaking out, then the lights come back on and its Show with the light switch. He says…point proven. Jericho’s scared. We then go back to Monday night to the awesome Raw at WWE’s Home Office…Madison Square Garden. That video montage was awesome…and they should make a DVD honoring….”The Garden.”

Unified Tag Team Champions Jeri-Show vs. Brothers of Destruction

Cool intro for Taker & Kane with the symbols on fire. Jericho will likely eat up most of the action here, as he’s getting pounded by both brothers. Kane becomes face in peril for a while but eventually Taker & Kane lay Big Show on the broadcast table and try a double chokeslam but Jericho breaks it up. Jericho is chokeslammed by Kane, but Big Show stops Taker from Tombstoning Jericho and Show chokeslams him. Big Show helps Jericho up and Jericho hits the Codebreaker. Jericho then takes the World Title belt and leaves. With that we’re out. This go home episode was ok, but with Vicky back on and no Edge, the future is bleak. WINNER: No Contest (Grade: 2)

Survivor Series as most of you know is tonight, so for those of you who aren’t knowing of the card, click more to see it.

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship

John Cena (c) vs Triple H vs HBK

Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Undertaker (c) vs Chris Jericho vs Big Show

Rey Mysterio vs Batista

Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match

Team Kofi (Kofi Kingston, Christian, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth) vs Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted Debiase, CM Punk William Regal)

Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match

Team Mickie (Mickie, Melina, Gail Kim, Eve, Kelly Kelly) vs Team Michelle(Michelle Mccool, Beth Phoenix, Jillian, Layla, Alicia Fox)

Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match

Team Morrison (John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne) vs Team Miz (The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Shaimus, Drew McIntyre)

WWE presents the 2009 Survivor Series tonight on pay-per-view, featuring two championship triple threat matches, three traditional Survivor Series elimination matches and a singles encounter between two former best friends. Survivor Series is usually one of my favorite events of the year, and this one definitely has the potential to be quite good.

Hit the jump for my preview/prediction for the annual event.

The match I’m most looking forward too may be quite surprising to a lot folks, but I have high hopes for the Team Morrison vs. Team Miz elimination match. With the possible exception of the Motor City Machine Guns, John Morrison and The Miz were my favorite tag team of the past couple of years, and I think both men have grown from that team to become great singles competitors. This match, to me, is the match of the future. What I mean by that is that I can see most of the guys in it main-eventing in the next few years.

Team Morrison is loaded with Shelton Benjamin, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy and Finlay. Benjamin is high on my list of WWE favorites, he’s a tremendous wrestler and can easily be a show stealer. He’s not the most entertaining guy, but based on wrestling ability alone, he’s got World Champion written all over him to me. The same goes for John Morrison, who really is on my short list for WWE breakout performer of the year. He is excitement. Evan Bourne is a terrific wrestler himself. These three alone make this a fantastic team, having solid veterans like Hardy and Finlay are just the icing on the cake.

As much as I like Team Morrison, I think Team Miz is definitely more “where the future lies”. This team features surefire future main-eventers all over the place, all young and hungry and looking for a breakout night. Dolph Ziggler leads the pack in my eyes, which is surprising considering this is a guy who I see a lot of Mr. Perfect in (for those of you who don’t know, Perfect is my all-time favorite wrestler). He’s followed closely by Jack Swagger, who the only thing that could possibly hold him back is his promo ability. Swagger is a natural, and he’s as solid as they come. Meanwhile The Miz has matured into a well-rounded wrestler and a very entertainer character, a far cry from when he first debuted. He’s a heat magnet, and in a good way. Sheamus and McIntyre are the noobs of the team, and actually two guys that I have grown to like (I see a ton of potential in both, especially McIntyre).

If this match gets the time it deserves, then it could be a show stealer. My prediction: Team Morrison

Kofi Kingston had a breakout moment a few weeks ago when he destroyed Randy Orton’s stock car. He had a star making moment Monday night on RAW. He’s definitely riding a wave of momentum and is on the brink of being elevated to that next level. His team isn’t all that impressive though, even though I like MVP and Christian. I don’t care for Henry or R-Truth, so I would like to see them get eliminated pretty quickly. Win or lose, Kofi needs to be the sole survivor for his team, and he needs to come out of it looking like a million bucks (which can still happen in defeat).

Randy Orton’s team on the other hand is stacked with the Viper himself, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, the veteran William Regal and my current favorite, CM Punk. This is a top notch team. Ideally, I’d like to see DiBiase turn, but with the current push of Kofi, that doesn’t need to happen and I assume it won’t happen on this night. I’m going to predict a win for Team Orton, and I’m hoping that Orton, DiBiase and Punk all survive,

There’s a women’s elimination tag match that doesn’t involve Katie Lea, hence it’s a match I don’t care about. I’ll go with Team Michelle though, because it has Beth Phoenix.

In another match I don’t care about, Batista battles Rey Mysterio. It would make no sense for Batista to lose, so I’ll pick him.

The two championship triple threat matches are both interesting for the same reason; a babyface champion is defending the title against two tag-team partners. So you have a WWE or World Championship being dangled between partners, which obviously can create some tension in the ranks. If Shawn Michaels were to super kick Triple H, I’d be extremely happy. I’d be even more happy if that super kick led to the break up of DX, with a heel Michaels against a face Hunter. It won’t happen of course, but I’d definitely mark out for it. Superman (John Cena) will retain the title here, although I’d love to see Michaels with it.

Chris Jericho and Big Show, tag team champions, battling one another and Undertaker for his World Championship, is probably the more interesting of the match ups. I could easily see this one going all three ways. Chris Jericho is without a doubt the best all around performer in WWE today, he’s really on top of his game and there’s simply no one better right now. Jericho, especially with his current character, would make a wonderful champion, and he’s my hope to win it. Big Show is probably due a reign as champ, and I can’t say I’d be opposed to a short term deal for him, but I don’t think it’ll happen tonight. My pick will go with the champion retaining, Undertaker getting the win after Jericho gets tangled up with Big Show.

Cue Jericho berating Big Show and whining because he didn’t let him win the title when they’re suppose to be friends, even though both men were challenging for the title. Oh, sorry, I was just thinking how absolutely shitty the Batista heel turn has been.

Survivor Series is LIVE tonight on pay-per-view at 7pm CST. If you don’t have PPV, or simply won’t be watching, join us for live coverage of the event tonight.

UPDATE: LIVE results are currently ongoing, visit the home page and refresh it for the latest updates.

Smackdown was very entertaining this week with the highlights of it been the 2 out of 3 falls match between John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler, another great promo from CM Punk and the Main Event which was The Brother Of Destruction vs Jerishow, setting up the Triple Threat Match at Survivor Series very well.

The first match of the night was Batista vs Matt Hardy in a good little match making The Animal look dominating, and was pretty much a squash with very little offence from Hardy.

The match following was Finlay vs Drew McIntyre, with Finlay beating on McIntyre from the get go, but gets poked in the eye. McIntyre eventually gets a Double Arm Underhook DDT for the win. Poor Finlay!!

Then we saw a very good match from 2 up and comers Ziggler and Morrison. Lots of back and forth action with Ziggler going after the injured ribs of Morrison for most of the match. Morrison Got the 1st pinfall with a roll up early on. Ziggler would eventually get the 2nd fall after going after the ribs and delivering the Zig Zag. Despite this Morrison fought through the pain and went on to successfully defend the title after taking Ziggler out with Starship Pain.

(Morrison with Intercontinental Title)

Divas match kept the storyline between Micke and Mccool and Layla going, but other than that, didn’t interest me.

CM Punk did another great promo about being straight edge by pretty much throwing everything that can poison you (Cigarettes, Pain killers, Alcohol) in to a trash can in the ring. R-Truth would eventually come to the ring and talk Punk down and take him out with a DDT and empty the trash can of drugs and smokes all over Punk. This was an amusing promo.

Rey took on Tyson Kidd in a decent match with Batista at the announcer’s table to watch the match (he didn’t speak throughout the match). Batista would interfere causing Rey Rey to lose by disqualification, which would cause Rey to take Batista down with a seated senton, embarrassing The Animal a 2nd time.

The main event which seemed to go to a non finish was a fun match with plenty of action setting up the triple threat match very well. The end kind of came when Jericho is in the ring been doubled teamed by The BoD, but Big Show would help Jericho by Choke-Slamming Taker. But when Show went to help Chris up, Chris would deliver the Code Breaker to Show and runaway with Takers World Championship. Will this be the scene at Survivor Series?

]]> http://lateralpress.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/the-beginning-of-jerishows-end-on-smackdown/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:43:18 +0000 dgettel http://lateralpress.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/the-beginning-of-jerishows-end-on-smackdown/

Dissension ruled the Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and the Big Show on Friday’s Smackdown.  The prospect of competing against each other for the World Heavyweight Title, in the triple threat match at Sunday’s Survivor Series, has predictably driven a wedge between the team and rendered its future (beyond Survivor Series) unclear.  

Members of a tag team finding themselves in direct competition for a singles title, throwing solidarity out the window for a shot at personal glory, is one of the oldest stories in pro wrestling.  It’s a testament to Show’s and Jericho’s talents that they’ve been able to make the ancient angle compelling.  The segment they performed backstage, before their main event tag match against the Undertaker and Kane took place, was quite entertaining.  As Jericho insisted that he was not intimidated by his seven-foot tall partner and was not afraid of the Undertaker, a smirking Big Show nodded and crept off screen.  Jericho lingered behind, a war of worry and resolve on his face, when suddenly the lights blinked off, and the locker room fell into a moment of darkness.  Jericho cried out with obvious panic in his voice, and when the moment passed, the camera revealed that it was Big Show who’d killed the lights, to expose Jericho’s fear of the Dead Man and gain a psychological edge over his partner/opponent.  The look on Big Show’s face was one of pure, smug enjoyment.

The match Jerishow had with Undertaker and Kane was very good.  Undertaker looks better in the ring each week since his return (maybe his match at Survivor Series will actually break the eight minute mark).  He, Kane, Show, and Y2J all worked well together, and each got in a few of his signature moves.  Toward the match’s end Taker and Kane set up Big Show for a chokeslam through the announce table, but Jericho interupted before they could lift the giant off his feet.  The Dead Man and Y2J then dashed back into the ring, where the former laid out the latter with a chokeslam.  Then Big Show rolled in and brought down the Taker with a slam of his own.  He then helped Jericho to his feet and received a code-breaker for his trouble.  Jericho deliberately left it unclear as to his motivation for hitting his finisher on Show.  Was he deliriously striking at the nearest big man, or was he intentionally taking down his partner, as a means of sending a message and building up a psychological advantage of his own?  I guess it will become clear at Survivor Series.  Personally I don’t expect Jerishow to break up just yet.

Elsewhere on the card:  With his grudge match against Rey Mysterio only days away, Batista needed to win his match against Matt Hardy and he did.  Fortunately the bout was not a squash.  Hardy didn’t come away looking too bad, even though he endured a hefty pummeling at match’s end and lost decisively.

After the match Batista gave a good backstage interview.  His introverted nature really works for him, when he projects the composed but frustrated heel, with monstrous anger smoldering just under his surface.  Much later in the show, he sat at ringside for Mysterio’s bout against Tyson Kidd.  He was technically there to do color commentary, but only breathed wordlessly into his headset, apparently too focused on the prospect of avenging Mysterio’s betrayal to say anything.  It was obvious that he would get involved in the match, and he did.  However, Mysterio unexpectedly got the better of their exchange, as he did on the previous Smackdown.  He toppled Batista over his announcer’s chair and then easily evaded the Animal’s attempts at retaliation.  It was an effective segment, evidencing how Mysterio quite easily makes up for in speed and savvy, what he gives up to Batista in size and strength.  I’m anticipating their Survivor Series match much more than I was a few weeks ago.

 Another very effective and entertaining segment featured CM Punk and R Truth.  Hitting the refresh button on his heel heat, Punk hosted a “straightedge intervention” for the entire WWE Universe.  He displayed a carton of cigarettes, a bottle of prescription meds, and a jug of whiskey, and explaining how each was merely a vile crutch used by the weak and will-less average WWE viewer, dumped them out one-by-one into a trash can at ring’s center.

Punk was (not surprisingly) terrific in this segment.  Amping up his righteous condescension, he came off as an amalgamation of a self-help guru and an evangelical TV preacher, at one point even inviting viewers to place their hands against their television screens, so they might better feel his healing message.  He drew some epic heat, which efficiently set up Truth to come out and interrupt the intervention.  Truth’s rebuttal was relatively weak.  It basically added up to “I don’t like you.”  Still, the crowd was solidly behind him, and they popped when he nailed the former world champ with a DDT.  Truth then picked up the trash can and emptied its contents onto Punk.  The torrent of medicine/whiskey/cigarette soup cascading over the straightedge superstar was a memorable visual.  Of course, Punk sold it beautifully, writhing in disgust as if contact with the substances would infect him with the addictions he so loathes.

(NOTE: This has been an often used device throughout WWE history: the offending  glutinous muck traditionally [and not too subtly] symbolizes that which he or she being doused with it most fears.  For Punk the muck symbolized addiction and impurity.  When Henry Godwin “slopped” the vain and beautiful Sunny, he was in effect dousing her with ugliness.  When DX dumped excrement onto the McMahons, they were afflicting the megalomaniacal family with poverty and a peasant’s anonymity.  When Davey Boy Smith slathered dog food all over Ken Shamrock he…. well… I actually have no idea what that was all about.)

I think that R Truth should have left the ring after pouring the muck onto Punk, but he didn’t.  Instead he struck the fallen preacher with the trash can, in a move that again the crowd loved but I thought was a little too vicious a punctuation to his essentially unprovoked attack.  I guess he couldn’t resist adding injury to insult.

 The two out of three falls contest for the Intercontinental Championship was the best match of the night.  John Morrison’s offense was particularly smooth and fearless, and Dolph Ziggler had no trouble keeping up.  Increasingly Ziggler demonstrates a unique presence in the ring.  He carries himself like an old-school heel (along the lines of Mr. Perfect or Ravishing Rick Rude) but displays a more modern tenacity.  He’s good at making moves look like they really hurt.  Maybe that’s because they do; that baseball slide to Morrison’s back, for instance, while the latter was wrapped around the ring post looked devastating.

In the end Morrison retained the IC title with two falls to Ziggler’s one.  The format of the match was a good choice.  It benefited both wrestlers.  Ziggler got to score a clean pin on the champion in a big match, and Morrison got to continue his impressive title run.

 Both Mickie James and Layla did well in the short match they had.  After being pinned by James, Layla introduced a pre-produced (and over-produced) taunt from Michelle McCool.  The video featured a green-screened (and clearly tone deaf) McCool singing a version of “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” amidst a cartoon barnyard.  It was a long way to go, for the ultimate purpose of simply calling Mickie James a pig (and superimposing her face on an animated, porcine body).  At first I thought James was laughing it off as she watched, but then I realized she was actually crying.  Seconds later I joined her.  Male or female, I just can’t stand to see wrestlers cry.

 One certainly can’t accuse Smackdown’s production team of liberal editing.  I think Vicki Guerrero screamed for three full minutes, after McMahon told her she would be Teddy Long’s official consultant from now on.  It was insufferable.  Her voice actually gave up before the camera did, and she had to switch from squealing to cabbage-patching.

 The video package Todd Grisham introduced as a look at the history of the “Brothers of Destruction” the Undertaker and Kane was a letdown.  How can you have such a retrospective, no matter how brief, without featuring a few shots of Paul Bearer, in his late 90s glory, screaming about the Dead Man’s past sins, through the many soiled bandages on his face?  It’s just not right.

On the official Lateral Press ratings scale, this episode of Smackdown (Paul Bearer’s absence aside) gets:

Four out of Five Stars

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Chris Jericho en México (octubre 2009) / Photo by Jeffry Nero Hardy Cool

Curiosa rivalidad de rudos en un segmento “dark” en las grabaciones de Smackdown. Después de la lucha, Jericho se encuentra en backstage a CM Punk, pero tiene que correr para que el Undertaker no lo alcance, luego aparece Batista, los dos van tras Jericho que se quiere defender con el título en la mano, pero es puesto fuera de combate por Kane.

Ok, I’ve been a terrible blogger. I’m now behind on three weeks of Smackdown and one week of Raw. Oops. Those catch-up posts will be up tomorrow, promise. But for tonight, let’s focus on Survivor Series.

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio
Is there anyone who thinks Mysterio is winning this? I didn’t think so. Batista looks better and stronger as a feel than he ever has a face and it makes no sense for him to lose now. The only question is how badly will he hurt Mysterio?
My Pick: Batista

Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla and Alicia Fox vs. Mickie James, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and Melina

First of all, can I comment what an oversight it is that Natalya is not in this match? She’s probably the most talented woman on the WWE roster and I loved seeing her in the ring at Bragging Rights, it was one of the highlights of the terrible show. She would be a much worthier contribution than Layla or Alicia Fox, just saying. That said, team McCool is a little less useless than Team Mickie, so they’re winning.
My Pick: Team McCool

John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Finlay, Evan Bourne and Shelton Benjamin vs. The Miz, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler
Team Miz seems stronger since it’s got five hot, young stars including two guys (McIntyre and Sheamus) who are getting major pushes from the powers that be, while Team Morrison has three guys who are mid-carders at best and never going to be more than that, as well as two hot, young stars. But… The Miz and Jack Swagger seem to be headed for a big feud and I see that getting in their way tonight and giving the win to Morrison’s team.
My Pick: Team Morrison

Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr., Cody Rhodes, William Regal, and CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston, Christian, R-Truth, MVP and Mark Henry
We actually get to see Christian at a PPV! Yay! That said, I don’t think we’ll see much of him. This match is really about Kofi Kingston and Legacy, particularly Randy Orton. My prediction is that Kofi will be the last man standing on his team and he’ll be left facing Legacy, but that the three members of Legacy will start squabbling and somehow Kingston will manage the victory. This would solidify Kingston as a major player and it would start the long over-due destruction of Legacy. Not saying they’re breaking up tonight, but I think after tonight we’re going to be one step closer to the final split.
My Pick: Team Kofi

The Undertaker vs. The Big Show vs. Chris Jericho for the World Heavy-Weight Championship
I’d love for Jericho to win this, but we all know that’s not happening. And The Big Show doesn’t seem like a legitimate contender either since he hasn’t managed a one-on-one title shot in the last year, neither has Jericho for that matter. The Undertaker is retaining, but the destruction of the tag team champions is going to happen. They might not break up tonight, but the end will be in sight.
My Pick: The Undertaker

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship
Cena got a clean pin over on Triple H on Monday, which makes me think he’s losing the belt tonight. The only thing I went back and forth over was which member of DX is going to win the title. In one way it made more sense for it to be Shawn Michaels to win to set up the eventual DX split since we all know they’re facing each other at Wrestlemania. After all Triple H used to be the guy who was all about the title, it would drive him nuts to see his friend with the belt and lead to a Triple H heel turn. But then, I realized that it also made sense and would be in character for Shawn Michaels to help Triple H win the belt (remember Michaels once laid down to give Triple H the European Championship) and would allow for tension down the road. The fact that Triple H took the pin on Monday made me think that that’s the way it’ll go.
My Pick: Triple H

The 2009 edition of WWE Survivor Series is in the books. The biggest story coming out of the event is the continuing of Kofi Kingston’s ascent to the RAW main-event. After several “career making” moments on RAW, the young Kingston found himself in a two-on-one situation against two former champions in CM Punk and Randy Orton. Against the odds, Kofi single handily defeated Punk and then Orton to become the sole survivor for his team in what is without a doubt the biggest win of his career. Kofi is riding a huge wave of momentum, and the fans are getting behind him in a big way. If WWE continues to play it right with Kofi, we could be watching the next big superstar develop before our eyes.

WWE played it predictably with John Cena retaining the title. I would have much preferred Shawn Michaels win the championship one more time, but hey, at least I got my wish of him superkicking Hunter (although I’m sure it won’t lead to a feud between the two, since Hunter isn’t a bitch like Batista). We’ll have more on this event tomorrow, with the debut of a brand new column series.

Anyway, the results are already posted individually, but you can hit the jump to view the complete results right here on this one post. Tomorrow, we debut Winners and Losers (Survivor Series Edition), so check back tomorrow for that.

- Team Miz def. Team Morrison (Miz, Sheamus & McIntyre survive)
- Batista def. Rey Mysterio
- Team Kofi def. Team Orton (Kofi is the sole survivor)
- The Undertaker def. Big Show and Chris Jericho (World Championship Match)
- Team Mickie def. Team Michelle (Mickie James & Melina survive)
- John Cena def. Shawn Michaels and Triple H (WWE Championship Match)

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Tour Survivor Series Smackdown/ECW en Puebla (16 octubre 2009) / Photo by Erick Gado

Los peores temores que circularon esta semana son un hecho, Rey Mysterio en efecto está lesionado, y para justificar su ausencia, se presentó el ángulo donde Batista lo castigo severamente en Survivor Series
Ahora sólo falta que WWE señale la lesión y el tiempo estimado que estará fuera de acción

Una pena cuando apenas el PPV pasado, Rey había regresado a retar por uno de los títulos grandes de WWE

Batista def. Rey Mysterio when the referee stopped the match after Mysterio was unable to continue after taking three Batista Bomb’s. Mysterio stretchered out.

UP NEXT: Team Kofi vs. Team Orton