Batista: I Walk Alone DVD
Released: October 20, 2009
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”

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.

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

…maybe i’d buy one of these.

Match #1: Team Miz def. Team Morrison

ORDER OF ELIMINATION:

1. Dolph Ziggler by Evan Bourne
2. Evan Bourne by Drew McInytre
3. Finlay by Sheamus
4. Jack Swagger by John Morrison
5. Shelton Benjamin by Miz
6. Matt Hardy by Drew McIntyre
7. John Morrison by Sheamus

Survivors: The Miz, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre

UP NEXT: Batista vs. Rey Mysterio

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)

- The following matches are advertised for WWE’s Smackdown/ECW live event on January 24th in Cleveland, Ohio: Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho for the World Title, Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk and John Morrison vs. Finlay for the Intercontinental Title.

- WWE has booked a bunch of “little people” for the November 30th RAW taping in Baltimore, Maryland where actor Verne Troyer of Austin Powers fame will be the celebrity host.

- The John Cena vs. Randy Orton RAW live event matches that were scheduled for December have been changed to Cena vs. Big Show.

- The latest on Edge is that people within WWE feel it’s a touch-and-go situation if he will be back in time for Wrestlemania and they are going under the assumption that it’s less than 50% right now.

- Among those interviewed for the new WWE announcer position last week were Sean Mooney and former XPW announcer Kris Kloss. Someone from the group was hired but it’s unknown when they will debut on TV. The word going around is that Mooney was hired but that’s not confirmed.

- ProWrestling.net is reporting that another round of drug testing was issued to the talent backstage at Impact this week. It was apparently a test issued to the entire roster, as several top names in the company were tested.

- We reported several weeks ago that the current creative plan in TNA calls for Tomko to be revealed as AJ Styles’ mystery attacker on Impact. ProWrestling.net is now reporting that the idea is to have AJ face Tomko at either the January of February PPV of 2010. Reports are indicating that although Tomko has signed a short term deal with TNA, he IS expected to eventually face Styles on PPV.

Credit: NoDQ.com

Drama’s Smackdown Report 11/13/09
Friday Night Smackdown!
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Your Hosts: Todd Grisham and Matt Striker

OPENING ANIMATION

The Grish & the Teacher welcome us to Sheffield and Friday Night Smackdown from across the Pond!  Tonight history will be made as for the first time in WWE history, World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker takes on Chris Jericho, we’ll have the contract signing for Rey Mysterio & Batista at Survivor Series, and John Morrison will defend the Intercontinental Title against Dolph Ziggler!  First we have the Straight Edge former Champion to kick the show off.

CM Punk vs. R-Truth

Punk takes the mike and says look what’s become of the UK.  This country ruled half the planet, and now the Brits are just as pathetic as Americans.  They can pretend they’re not drinking at the pubs or smoking fancy cigarettes or chewing tobacco.  He calls the Brits weak minded and they have no heart.  Punk says they’re decomposing as he speaks, accusing him of being preachy.  These Britons need the Straight Edge to get their life in order, and aspire to be as great as he is.  He says he’s absolutely better than everyone else, and he’s perfect in every way.  He says he’s filed a former complaint against referee Scott Armstrong for what happened last week with the fast count, and he’ll beat R-Truth tonight and at Survivor Series.  Both these guys will be at the Survivor Series as R-Truth will be on Kofi Kingston’s team and CM Punk will be on Randy Orton’s team.  Truth grabs the mike and says he wants to file a report against Punk for being a man.  He won’t keep talkin, he’ll just entertain and shut him up.  Truth says he tells other people about their lives and how Punk covers up his own deficiencies.  Then he does the Whatsup and we’re off.  Pretty good match, well paced as Punk was using some solid moves, like the Indian Death Lock.  Punk however used some chicanery as he uses the rope for leverage to get the 3 count.  Some say Punk might be getting punished a bit for that Undertaker nonsense a couple months ago, but he’s taking it in stride.  WINNER: CM Punk (Grade: 2)

-Todd & Striker pimp Rey Mysterio’s new book: Behind the Mask.  Then we go backstage where Mickie James & Layla have words as Mickie calls her Scary Spice again.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Mickie James vs. Natalya

Decent little match as I’m trying to notice if Mickie’s getting better in the ring and getting out of her slump.  She seems to have lost a little weight as many thought she got a little chunky.  During the match Michelle McCool and Layla come out and start chopping up Mickie’s clothes with a pair of scissors.  That gives Natalya a chance to ratchet up the Sharpshooter and win the match.  WINNER: Natalya (Grade: 2)

-We see the opening of tix for Wrestlemania XXVI in Phoenix and they interview some people in line.  They say tix are on sale, but I’m not sure if there are many left.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-Josh Matthews is backstage with the IC Champ, John Morrison.  Morrison says he feels great, he’s the Friday Night Delight.  He’s human, but he’ll take care of Dolph Ziggler tonight.

Drew McIntyre vs. Finlay

Drew has a mic and the Scotsman says 2 weeks ago he left Finlay in the ring because he wasn’t worthy.  Tonight we’ll see if Finlay will like to fight him.  This is a legit European rivalry between Scotland and Northern Ireland.  They start grappling but Finlay starts clubbing and beating McIntyre down.  I like the feud as it gives Finlay another young guy to work with and McIntyre gets some credibility.  They continue clubbing each other and Scott Armstrong calls for the bell.  WINNER: Double Disqualification (Grade: 1.5)

-Finlay goes after McIntyre with the Shillelagh but Drew Mac boots him then grabs the Shillelagh and cracks Finlay with it.  He leaves the ring, then comes back, grabs the Irish fighting stick and whacks Finlay in the ribs.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-Striker’s in the ring and we’re about to have the contract signing for Batista vs. Rey Mysterio for Survivor Series.  Rey comes to the ring first, followed by Batista.  Batista tries to make small talk, but Rey will have nothing of it.  Batista signs, then Rey signs.  Batista takes the mike and says he wants Rey to sign a “hold harmless” agreement, meaning that Batista can’t be sued for what he does to Rey at Survivor Series.  Rey says no and Batista says he’s a coward and is hiding behind his mask.  If he doesn’t sign this he will snap his neck right there.  So Rey signs it, but says the intimidation won’t work, and Batista will be the one embarrassed.  With that Rey flips the table over on Batista, runs over it and leaves the ring.  Batista snaps and starts breaking the chairs.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Intercontinental Championship: John Morrison © vs. Dolph Ziggler

Good trivia question:  Striker says the Intercontinental Title changed hands 3 times in England.  Think about it as we go along and I’ll give the answer at the end of the column.  They grapple back and forth early.  Ziggler actually dictated the action early but Morrison punched his way out of it.  They go back and forth and Ziggler tried the Randy Savage “legs on the corner rope” pin but the ref caught him.  At one point both guys were on the middle turnbuckle and both guys hit the floor hard.  Crowd’s kind of quiet tonight, come on you Brits.  Both guys end up getting counted out, and that doesn’t make the crowd happy.  Lame ending to the match, which wasn’t that great anyway.  WINNER: Double Countout (Grade: 2)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Beth Phoenix vs. Lisa Taylor

I like the way that they’re rebuilding Beth Phoenix into a hot killer again once she went back on the show.  Nothing fancy, another squash as she hits the Glam Slam for the win.  WINNER: Beth Phoenix (Grade: .5)

-Josh Matthews is backstage with Chris Jericho.  He asks Josh about the Deadman, and Jericho says he’s not the Deadman.  He’s just a man.  All the plebians and parasites have believed he is immortal.  Well he’s hot, and tonight Jericho’s going to prove it.  He’ll defeat the Undertaker tonight, and he’ll defeat the Undertaker at Survivor Series and become the World Heavyweight Champion.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-We’ve just been announced that next week John Morrison & Dolph Ziggler will have another Intercontinental Title match, but it will be 2 out of 3 falls.

Chris Jericho vs. World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker

I thought this was going to be some schmozz to protect the match for a later date, but no they actually wrestle.  Jericho takes the early beating, as Taker works the left arm over.  Jericho stops Old School to change momentum as they go to commercial.  They go back and forth after that.  The crowd’s not really in this match either, and this match would have pulled this show out of C- range.  The pace is ok but there’s no special feel here to this match.  Taker kicked out of the Codebreaker, but Jericho then reversed the Chokelslam into the Walls of Jericho.  The drama is building (no pun intended) but the crowd is still kind of out of it.  Taker then reverses into Hell’s Gate and Jericho taps out.  Eh, I thought that was a waste of a first match between the two.  WINNER: Undertaker (Grade: 2)

-Big Show comes to the ring and the Unified Tag Champs start beating Taker down, but suddenly Kane comes out and helps big brother out.  Backstage Vince McMahon talks to Teddy Long on the phone, and proposes that The Brothers of Destruction face Jeri-Show on next week’s Smackdown  Teddy apparently is under the weather, and Vince nicely points out that he’s still on probation.  Overall a match-dominated show which was fine, but the matches were ordinary and the crowd was too flat to save them.

FINAL GRADE: C-

PS:  The answer to the trivia question, as to the three IC Title changes in England are:

- British Bulldog defeats Bret Hart, 8/29/92
- Jeff Hardy defeats Johnny Nitro, 11/13/06
- William Regal defeats Santino Marella, 11/10/08.

Smackdown superstars partied like it was 1066, as they invaded England last Friday night.  In an effort to make its visit a memorable one, the show offered up a pay-per-view calibur main event, which pitted World Heavyweight Champion the Undertaker against Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho.  This was the first ever one-on-one encounter between the two legendary WWE performers, and while the match wasn’t bad, it could have been much better.

Throughout the match Jericho carried the Undertaker, who’s been sluggish in the ring since his August return.  Y2J was allowed plenty of solid offense, spending a lot of time posturing for the pro-Taker crowd as he systematically attacked the Dead Man’s left knee.  When the champ got in some licks of his own, toward the match’s end, the crowd (having been taken to the edge by Jericho’s heel psychology) seemed to become more invested in the bout.  After taking a big boot and snake eyes, Jericho briefly regained the advantage and landed a Lion-salt, from which the Undertaker sat up suddenly to a nice crowd reaction.  From there Taker tried a choke-slam, which Jericho countered into and roll-up that led into the Walls of Jericho.  The champ broke the hold and a moment later locked Y2J into his Hell’s Gate submission hold, to which Jericho promptly tapped out.

The frequent counters made for an exciting ending to an otherwise mediocre main event.  While the match was not worthy of its combatants’ talents and prestige, it was successful on one level: it made both Undertaker and Jericho look strong heading into their three-way championship match with the Big Show at Survivor Series.

Elsewhere on the card:  CM Punk took on R Truth, in a rematch from the previous Smackdown.  Prior to the match, Punk was at his didactic, heat-seeking best, cutting a promo that took his straight edge message global.  He then went on to avenge his fluke loss to R Truth, using the ropes for leverage as he scored the pin fall.  It was a well booked finish:  Punk’s checkered victory allowed him to win, without diminishing the momentum Truth’s gained of late.

Natalya looked impressive in her match against Mickie James.  The Mexican surfboard she applied on James was textbook, and it was exciting to see her win with the Sharpshooter (even if she owed some credit to Michelle McCool and Layla, who distracted James by cutting up items of her personal wardrobe at ringside – I guess taking scissors to a rival’s clothing is a new heel tactic for getting into an opponent’s head; similar to when Kama threatened to melt down the Undertaker’s urn into a set of wearable gold chains [which would have been an especially impressive feat, considering that the urn itself was clearly not made of gold]).

Drew McIntyre and Finlay had a teaser of match, in which neither wrestler really dominated and which ended prematurely in a double DQ.  (This match marks the first time I can remember that competitors were disqualified for brawling.)  After the bell, McIntyre did was he’s come to do best: his face occasioned by an “all business” scowl, he assaulted Finlay with his own shillelagh and left him battered at ring’s center.  Smackdown’s creative team should bring a new dimension to McIntyre’s character.  He’s in danger of becoming predictable and losing some of his legitimate edge.  Still, his trouncing of Finlay made him look strong.  Seeing legendary tough guy Fit Finlay being helped to his feet by medical personnel made for a unique visual.

The Intercontinental Title Match in which John Morrison defended against Dolph Ziggler also came off as more of a teaser than a contest.  Both Morrison and Ziggler performed well and at an engaging pace, but then the match ended abruptly and unceremoniously in a double count-out, which led right into a commercial break.  Later in the show it was announced that the two will meet again for the IC Title in a two-out-of-three-falls match next week.  I guess the indecisive ending was booked in an effort to build toward that bigger rematch next Friday, but something was lost in the execution.  The ending of the bout was sloppily choreographed and made me wonder briefly if either Morrison or Ziggler had sustained an injury, in falling to the outside of the ring.  Still, the two-out-of-three-falls match next week should be entertaining.

In her match with Beth Phoenix, Lisa Taylor took a very painful-looking Rude Awakening neck-breaker, while her feet were caught on the top rope.  I kind of wanted to send her a singing greeting card after seeing that.  I still might.

In-ring contract signings in WWE usually go about as smoothly as a couples-skate between Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera, and the one between Batista and Rey Mysterio (for their match at Survivor Series) was no exception to the norm.  Both performers played their parts well:  Batista was the cold-hearted heel, staring a hole through his rival, with equal parts smoldering rage and condescension in his eyes.  Mysterio was the proud but reticent competitor, clinging to his honor among the ruins of a lost friendship.  It was effective promotion.  Batista’s proposed clause of impunity, stating that he would not be held responsible no matter what untold horrors he perpetrated against Mysterio in the ring, was a nice touch.  And like all pro wrestling contract signings it ended with one competitor lying on the mat with a folding table on top of him.  I was surprised, though, that it was Mysterio who struck the blow.  I still think that creative could have milked the Batista/Mysterio program for a lot longer before letting them compete one-on-one, but they’re doing a good job building up the feud.

On the official Lateral Press rating scale, this episode of Smackdown gets: 

Three out of Five Stars.

If you’ve never heard this one before, he might strike you as an invented two-syllable twist on Finn.  Not so.

Thanks to Bevan for suggesting the storied Fintan as Name of the Day.

Finnegan, Phinnaeus, Finbar, Finley, Griffin … There are plenty of ways to get to the nickname Finn, and he stands nicely on his own, too.  But Fintan isn’t merely a formal choice for the birth certificate.  He’s a separate name with a story of his own.  

The more traditional spelling would be Fionntán and is found in Irish myth.  Their version of the Biblical Noah’s Ark has a second chapter.  Fintan mac Bóchra was part of a group who arrived in Ireland before the flooding began.  Noah’s granddaughter, Cessair, was among them.  Despite their travels, Cessair and company would perish in the deluge.  Fintan, however, turned into a salmon and lived – in fact, he’d eventually return to human form and live for more than 5,000 years – long enough to serve as an advisor to Finn McCool.  

If myth doesn’t move you, there are two Saints Fintan:

• Leinster-born Saint Fintan died in 603, after having spent some years as a hermit;
• A second Saint Fintan founded an abbey in County Wexford, before dying in 635.  A well in Limerick is named after him and attributed with all sorts of mystical powers.

The name was much less common in recent centuries, though there was James Fintan Lalor, an Irish revolutionary, and Fintan Mundwiler, a nineteenth century abbot of St. Meinrad’s Abbey in Indiana.

Like Finn and many Fin- names, Fintan’s first part – fionn – derives from the Gaelic word for “white.”  The second half could mean fire, could mean bull, could refer to hair color, could even mean wise.  Fire is the most commonly cited, and it’s an intriguing image.

While his exact meaning is open to debate, there’s little doubt about his style – he’s as Irish as a shamrock.  He’d fit right in with Ryan and Aidan and Riley, but his sound is distinct enough to stand out, too.  The name has never ranked in the US Top 1000.

Fintan’s only shortcoming – and this could prove to be a biggie – is the rise of Finn names.  Since 2000, there have been:

• Nearly 13,000 new baby Griffins;
• Almost 4,000 Finns;
• 1,200 Finnegans;
• And more than 1,300 female Finleys.

The name cluster is on the upswing.  After all, Julia Roberts christened her firstborn son Phinnaeus “Finn” late in 2004.  And television’s Glee has just given singing quarterback Finn a few months ago.  Little wonder that Finn leapt from #833 in 2000 to #368 last year.  He also steadily ranks among the top search name for boys on this site.

Yet Fintan’s sound remains distinctive, and unlike Finley/Finlay, unlikely to be borrowed by the girls.

So if you’re seeking a choice that is saintly, obscure and impeccably Irish, Fintan is one to consider.

no comment

This week on Superstars:

Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero

It just hasn’t been a good past few months for the “Mexican Warrior” as Santino reverses a pin into a win this week. I guess that’s why John Cena says not to mess with leprechauns.

Jack Swagger vs. Primo

The All-American American kept his promised winning streak alive this week with a counter into a Gutwrench Powerbomb for the pinfall…pinfall.

Paul Burchill vs. Tyler Reks

With a fight against a superhero next week on ECW, Paul Burchill put on an impressive showing against the laid back surfer Tyler Reks using the Dangerous Buster to pick up the win.  T. Reks got busted open at some point during the match but I’m not really sure how or when.

Chris Jericho vs. Finlay

The “Man Who Loves To Fight” went up against the “Best At What He Does” in an epic back and forth contest. Finlay was very agressive as to not show effects from the brutal attack he suffered from Drew McIntyre the week before. As Finlay went for the Celtic Cross, Jericho grabbed the ropes and escaped then hit Finlay with the Codebreaker for the win.

And that’s your Superstars Rundown for the week.

Drama’s Smackdown Report 10/30/09

Friday Night Smackdown!
October 30, 2009
Rochester, New York
Todd Grisham and Matt Striker

We recap Batista’s heel turn at Bragging Rights.

OPENING ANIMATION

We skip the pyro and go right to the GM, as Teddy Long comes down to the ring. Todd says tonight Rey Mysterio asks for an explanation from Batista on why he did what he did at Bragging Rights. I think it’s cool that Todd called Smackdown the “A” show. Teddy congratulates the Smackdown team for their win at Bragging Rights, but he says the show had its highs and lows. He talks about Batista’s actions against Rey Mysterio. The WWE Universe wants an explanation, so later tonight Rey and Batista will talk face to face about it. Teddy talks about the #1 contender for Undertaker’s World Title at Survivor Series, Big Show. With that we BREAK THE WALLS DOWN, and out comes co-Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho, complete with SD t-shirt and Bragging Rights trophy. I hope he carries that around all year. Before Jericho can speak Teddy says the trophy is the property of the show so he takes it from him. Jericho says make no mistake about it, that trophy is his. He won it for himself, not for Teddy or the hypocritical sycophantic fans. Jericho says making Big Show #1 contender behind his back is devious and cruel. Jericho says he is the crown jewel of this show and he should be the champion. He’s interrupted by Team Smackdown’s co-captain, The World Champ’s brother Kane. Kane reminds Jericho that he was co-captain of Team Smackdown, and anything Jericho deserves, he deserves. That includes a World Title shot. Jericho says that Kane suffers from selective memory. Jericho says he got the winning pin, and Kane’s history against Undertaker is spotty at best. Jericho says Kane better just be happy he’s part of the winning team. Jericho keeps baiting Kane on, till Kane grabs Jericho by the throat. Teddy Long stops Kane and tells him that Undertaker will defend the World Title against Big Show at Survivor Series. But Teddy says if Raw will have a Triple Threat match at Survivor Series for the WWE Title, then Smackdown will too. Teddy says one more person will be added to the match at Survivor Series, and it will be tonight’s match between Kane and Chris Jericho.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Intercontinental Champion John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler

Dolph grabs the mike and says he’s proud to be on the winning brand, even though Morrison was the only loser from Smackdown at Bragging Rights. Morrison says at least he was at Bragging Rights. Typical TV match between the two. Morrison continues to do his best to carry the mid-card, whereas it seems like Ziggler’s been kind of kicked to the sidelines for a bit. Ziggler wins the match by countout, so I guess that means he may get another title shot, since he’s already lost 3 IC Title matches on PPV. They’ll probably meet at Survivor Series, which is good, as these guys have pretty good chemistry. WINNER: Dolph Ziggler by countout (Grade: 2)

-We go back to Bragging Rights and Batista’s vicious attack on Rey Mysterio.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We go backstage and Teddy Long is staring at the Bragging Rights trophy when Mr. McMahon comes in to congratulate Teddy on his Bragging Rights trophy when CM Punk comes in to bitch that he deserves the title match at Survivor Series and not a guy who’s on the Raw Roster. He would have won the title at Bragging Rights if it wasn’t for Scott Armstrong’s crappy officiating. Mr. McMahon says fine, tonight CM Punk will face Scott Armstrong.

Beth Phoenix vs. Jenny Brooks

Todd says that these two have a history as they wrestled each other in high school and Brooks handed Phoenix her only high school wrestling loss. So as you might expect, it was a slaughter. WINNER: Beth Phoenix (Grade: 1)

-Tonight Cryme Tyme hosts the Diva Halloween Costume Contest.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-Out comes Vickie Guerrero dressed like a medieval princess, and she says that’s what she wants to be named tonight. She introduces her prince charming as he comes to the ring.

Eric Escobar vs. Matt Hardy

Another so-so TV match, as Matt Hardy has also been kind of lost in the shuffle, even though he was on the Bragging Rights PPV. I still can’t figure this Escobar guy out, but he seems like a bum. Hardy hurts his knee but gets the win anyway. WINNER: Matt Hardy (Grade: 2)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-We go back to Bragging Right and Batista’s demolition of Rey Mysterio. With that the music plays and out comes Mr. 619. Rey’s walking very slowly in street clothes. Rey says the fans saw what happened. He says Dave Batista and he are best friends. Rey says he still considers Batista his friend. All week he’s been watching the footage and was getting really angry. But then he realized he’s still Batista’s friend and they should hammer these things out right now. That UNLEASHES…THE ANIMAL. Batista comes out with his shades on, looking maybe indifferent. Batista asks if Rey was disappointed that he hurt him. Batista says Rey doesn’t get it, and that it could get worse for him. Batista says he will let it go and let Rey leave the ring. Rey was about to, but stops. He says this needs to be straightened out. Rey says what was he supposed to do at Bragging Rights, not try? They’re family, and they will always be family. Batista says that Rey’s thinking how easy it was that he hurt Rey. Batista says he was stabbed in the back and he’s telling Rey one more time to leave the ring. Rey says no, he’s not leaving, he’s going to hold his ground and there’s needs to be middle ground. Rey says what about Eddie? What would he think? So the card’s been laid on the table, and Batista took it. He says Eddie’s dead, and he’s not thinking about him, or anybody but himself. With that, Batista REALLY turns heel, then leaves the ring.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-We return from break and Matt Hardy stops Batista and says no one knows what its like to betray a brother like he does. He tells Batista if he can help in any way he will. Batista chuckles at him and leaves, walking through a door. Matt turns around and grabs his cell phone, then Batista turns through the door and throws Hardy into a steel fence wall.

Drew McIntyre vs. Finlay

McIntyre congratulates Team Smackdown but slams Finlay and others for not holding their weight. He doesn’t even let Finlay get in the ring and beats him down outside. WINNER: No Contest.

Cryme Tyme’s Diva Halloween Costume Contest

Natalya: A Matador
Layla: Michael Jackson
Michelle McCool: She-Devil
Mickie James: Elektra

Mickie James won with a big applause, but then as with most diva contests in ends in a catfight brawl. In the end, Michelle McCool beats Mickie down, pumping up their future Women’s Title feud.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

CM Punk vs. Scott Armstrong

Punk gets in his face, Armstrong pushes him back, then Punk stomps on him, hits the GTS and wins. WINNER: CM Punk (Grade: 0)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-Next week, Batista will go one on one with Matt Hardy. The winner will take a slot in the Triple Threat World Heavyweight Match at Survivor Series.

Co-Unified Tag Team Champion Chris Jericho vs. Kane.

Kane dominated the action early with drop kicks and right hands. Jericho would try the Walls of Jericho early but that would fail. Jericho knocks Kane into the barricade when they go to break. COMMERCIAL BREAK. The match went back and forth, quite entertaining actually, Jericho would eventually get the Walls on but Kane would power out, then Jericho tried a superplex but was thrown off the turnbuckle. Kane went for his top rope clothesline but Jericho hit the Codebreaker in mid-air and gets the win, and the slot at Survivor Series. WINNER: Chris Jericho (Grade: 2.5)

-With that we’re out. Next week, Batista’s first true heel match in over 5 years.

Bragging Rights 2009, October 25, 2009, Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

Announcers: Michael Cole, Todd Grisham, & Jerry “The King” Lawler

Well, this would probably be the PPV I was least looking forward to in a long time.  First we have this Bragging Rights series of matches between Raw and Smackdown, which is a good idea in theory, but come on.  Guys switch back and forth all the time, and nearly everyone has been on each show at some point so it’s kind of hard to buy the idea that they have any sort of loyalty to one or the other.  Hell, some of them in the Women’s match just switched a few weeks ago, and we’re expected to believe that they already “bleed” their new colours?  Sigh.  And then we have this Ironman Match.  I expect it to be in the range of good overall, but still I fear that they’re going have a lot of trouble filling this time.  Other then Cena’s Raw match with Shawn Michaels (and let’s face it, that was a Shawn Michaels performance all the way) I don’t believe either guy has ever been close to this long.  Well, it could be a long night, so let’s get started.

Opening Match: The Miz vs. John Morrison

We start out here with the US Champion against the Intercontinental Champion although neither Title is on the line.  What is on the line is the first point in the 2 out of 3 Raw vs. Smackdown series, which has a nice little trophy sitting at ringside to be awarded to the winning team.  So does it suck to by Marty Jannetty, or what?  They’ve spent the buildup here debating which one of them will be the Shawn Michaels of their team and which one will be the Marty Jannetty, thus making Jannetty’s name synonymous with “Loser”.  They start out trading holds and reversals until Miz gets a rope break to a round of boos.  More of the same leads to a Morrison shoulderblock off of which Miz bails.  After regrouping, Miz gets him with his own shoulderblock, but comes off the ropes again and gets flapjacked.  Morrison hits a standing Shooting Star Press for 2.  Miz comes back and pounds him in the corner then tosses him.  Morrison blocks a suplex back in and comes through with a rollup for 2.  Morrison gets on top, but Miz bridges out and goes to a backslide, which is, ironically enough, a spot used in the past by none other than Marty Jannetty.  No one picks up on that though.  Morrison escapes the backslide anyways.  Miz misses a knee and Morrison clotheslines him to the floor, then dropkicks him through the ropes.  Back in, that gets 2.  He then goes for a headscissors, but gets dropped over the top to the floor by Miz.  Miz gets him back in and goes to work with a back suplex for 2.  Morrison kicks him off, but his corner whip is reversed and he then takes a clothesline in the corner.  Miz sets him on the apron and knees him from the floor.  That gets a 2 count and then Morrison responds with a couple of rollups for 2.  They trade kicks and then Morrison takes advantage with a forearm and clothesline.  Dropkick gets 2, but then he misses a kick and Miz gets a rollup for 2.  Morrison is back on him though, hitting a springboard kick for 2.  He sets up Starship Pain, but Miz rolls to the floor, so he just hits a corkscrew plancha instead.  That gets another 2, so he goes for a superplex.  Miz shoves him off and drops a double ax.  He goes for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Morrison counters to a Russian legsweep.  He goes for Starship Pain again, but this time Miz nails him coming down, and that’s enough to get the 3 count at 10:55.  Raw goes up 1-0.  Not a bad match, but I was actually expecting this to be better.  **1/2

Next we have a backstage confrontation between Cody Rhodes and R-Truth.  Big Show then comes in and bullies Truth away.  With the way Smackdown got buried here it was a pretty good sign they were winning in the end.

Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. Melina, Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim

So it’s the Smackdown Divas against the Raw Divas in match two of the Bragging Rights series.  Of course Smackdown has to win, otherwise our big 14 man tag becomes meaningless, but then again, who really cares about this match anyways?  Beth and Gail start with Gail getting caught on a press attempt, but still getting a cradle for 2.  Beth hits a clothesline but McCool steals the tag and puts the boots to Gail.  Gail comes back with a rana and that has McCool backing off.  Tag to Natalya who trips Gail up for 1.  Gail tags Kelly who puts a boot to Natalya’s throat.  She then takes her down with a headscissors.  Natalya recovers and drops Kelly on the ropes for 2.  Kelly gets caught in the Smackdown corner, but manages to fight her way out.  She tries a rollup on Natalya, but McCool gets the tag first.  After a few knees, she tags in Beth who gets a snapmare for 2.  Kelly fires back, but can’t make a tag.  Beth does make a tag though, to McCool, and she continues working Kelly over.  Beth steals the tag back, but falls victim to a rana for 2 and then a jawjacker.  Kelly then makes the tag to Melina who takes Beth out with a drop toehold and faceplant.  McCool provides a distraction which allows Beth to take over again, and then in the coolest spot of the match, Beth goes for a slingshot suplex, which Melina slickly counters to a small package, but the ref is distracted making sure Gail is in the corner.  McCool rolls them over before the ref finally gets back and counts 2 for Beth.  Beth goes for a side slam now, but that gets countered to a faceplant by Melina for 2.  Every one goes at it now, but the ring is soon cleared leaving Melina and Beth again.  Beth hits her with an ugly Snake Eyes and then uses the Glam Slam to finish her off at 6:55.  One of the many little details they fail to pay attention to concerns Melina losing the fall here.  Why?  They just moved Beth over to Smackdown so they can’t really be building to a Title match between them.  What possible reason could they have other then intentionally wanting to make the Champion look weak?  It’s not like Kelly and Gail have unbeatable reputations that need to be protected or anything.  Either on of them could have been pinned here and it would have the same effect without unnecessarily making the Champion look bad.  That’s a -1/2* penalty in my book.  This was actually a perfectly fine match by Divas standards while it lasted but taking the penalty into effect it gets *1/2.

Back in the locker room, and now knowing that their match will decide it, Shawn Michaels and HHH give Team Raw a motivational pep talk.  Of course they end up making fun of everyone along the way, but the team still shows solidarity.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Undertaker vs. Dave Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk

Punk cheapshot Mysterio and then runs away from Batista, but Taker takes him out.  Punk goes for Taker now and has some success before getting caught and tossed.  Rey leaps at him off the apron while in the ring Taker hits a flying clothesline on Batista.  Mysterio dropkicks Taker to the floor, but Taker is right back in and hits a big boot.  Old School on Batista hits but when he goes for it on Mysterio, Punk crotches him.  Punk goes for a superplex, getting knocked back on the first try, but trying again and hitting it the second time.  Mysterio follows with a springboard splash only to have his pin broken up at 2 by Punk.  Batista works Punk over with a couple of clotheslines and a powerslam, but Taker nails a boot on him.  Mysterio comes off the top, but gets caught and set for the Last Ride.  Batista makes the save with a spear, and then he and Mysterio stare at each other as though they both want to follow up but won’t because of the other.  Taker just grabs Mysterio by the throat to end that debate, but Batista nails him and sets him up for the 619, which Mysterio hits.  This knocks Taker back into a Batista spinebuster which gets 2 as Punk saves.  Mysterio takes the GTS for 2 with Batista saving, followed by Taker hooking Hell’s Gates on Batista, but Punk breaks that.  Punk follows with a running knee on Taker, but then gets caught and hit with the Last Ride.  Taker covers, but Batista saves at 2.  It breaks down to a slugfest between Taker and Batista with the crowd solidly behind Taker, who eventually takes advantage and hits a chokeslam.  That gets 2 as yet another save is made by Punk.  It’s interesting to note that Mysterio has not yet been there for Batista.  Punk gets tossed by Taker but that allows Batista to take advantage and hit Taker with the Batista Bomb.  He covers, but Mysterio not only breaks the pin, but tries for a cover himself before Batista gets him off.  Batista gives him a piece of his mind for that, and ends up shoving him down.  He turns around into a chokeslam for 2 and then they end up clotheslining each other.  Punk sneaks in and tries covers on both guys, but only gets 2.  Batista dumps him and then catches Mysterio who came at him off the top and dumps him as well.  He then turns around again, and this time is caught with a Tombstone and that gets the 3 count for Undertaker to retain at 9:58.  There was some good action here, as well as some good storytelling, but it wasn’t really spectacular or anything.  ***

Following the match, Josh Matthews hits the ring for a post match interview with Mysterio and Batista.  First he talks to Mysterio who says they were close, but he’s cool with the effort they gave and that there will be another day.  Batista, meanwhile, is tired of being close, and tired Mysterio.  He tells Mysterio flat out that he’s going to take him out, and then proceeds to do just that.  Not a bad idea here as Batista’s babyface run has pretty much outlasted its usefulness so we’ll see how he does as a heel again.

Team Raw: Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, & Kofi Kingston vs. Team Smackdown: Chris Jericho, Kane, Matt Hardy, Fit Finlay, R-Truth, David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd

So we’re 1-1 and this match will decide it.  Everyone is wearing shirts representing their show except for DX who wear their own shirts.  The Smackdown team other then Jericho and Kane was completely replaced just last Friday and I think they got a better overall team for it, but they’re still perceived as the lesser stars here.  Rhodes and Truth start things off stemming from the confrontation earlier, and they break right into a slugfest.  Truth nails a dropkick, but runs into an elbow.  They keep trading shots until Rhodes hangs onto the ropes on an Irish whip and Big Show takes the tag.  Truth thinks better of that matchup and tags Kane leading to an epic staredown.  Kane then gets some shots in followed by a corner clothesline.  Show comes out with a shoulderblock and drops a leg for 2.  Tag to Swagger, who takes a clothesline and then Kane tags Matt Hardy.  Hardy controls until his corner whip is reversed, but he gets the boot up on the charge.  2^nd rope legdrop for 2 follows and Swagger escapes to the floor.  Hardy follows, but gets distracted by Rhodes and sent to the post.  This leads to a standoff between the two teams, but the ref maintains order.  In the ring, Swagger goes to work on Hardy’s arm.  Tag to Mark Henry, who keeps up the work and prevents Hardy from tagging.  He then tags Shawn Michaels, who sends Hardy shoulder first to the buckle, but puts his head down on a whip and gets kicked.  Side Effect follows and that gives him the time he needs to tag Finlay.  Finlay pounds Shawn down for a bit, but a collision in the corner puts both of them down.  They make it to their feet and Shawn connects with Sweet Chin Music, but Finlay falls into a tag to David Hart Smith.  The Harts immediately take Shawn out with a springboard Hart Attack for 2.  Smith slams Shawn and tags Jericho who puts the boots to him.  Shawn fires out of a rear chinlock and gets a rollup for 2, but Jericho is right back with a clothesline for 2.  Tag Kane who hits a seated dropkick and tags back to Smith.  Shawn fires out of another rear chinlock, but takes a back suplex for 2.  Smith tags Kidd who misses a springboard elbow and that lets Shawn make the tag to HHH.  High knee for Kidd, facebuster for Smith, spinebuster onto Smith for Finlay, and then another spinebuster for Kidd to add him to the pile as well.  Kane comes in though and hits a chokeslam, letting Kidd cover for 2.  During the match, the announcers have been cheering on their respective teams, which is fine and all, but I get the feeling that for some reason Michael Cole doesn’t like the Hart Dynasty.  He seems to be going out of his was to put them down going beyond just brand loyalty.  Tag to Jericho, who bulldogs HHH, but misses a Lionsault and HHH tags Kofi.  He springs in with a clothesline on Jericho, followed by a dropkick and tomahawk chop.  He goes for the Boom Drop, but Jericho block and goes for the Walls, which Kofi in turn counters to an inside cradle for 2.  Jericho hits a clothesline and comes off the ropes, but runs right into Trouble in Paradise.  The Harts make the save, but Mark Henry clears them out.  Truth and Hardy then take Henry out, including hitting a double dive out to the floor.  Finlay lays out Rhodes with the Finlay Roll, but immediately takes the gutwrench powerbomb from Swagger.  Kane boots Swagger out of the ring, but then takes a spear from Show.  Kofi, who is still the legal man, looks to come off the top, but now Show turns on him with a chokeslam.  HHH questions Show, but falls victim to the Big Right Hand for his troubles.  Meanwhile, Jericho, who’s also still the legal man, gets over and covers Kofi for the 3 count at 15:35.  Smackdown wins Bragging Rights and the trophy.  To their credit, the team celebrates like those things actually mean something but I don’t find myself caring about this series at all.  The match itself though was actually quite good.  ***1/2

After a video package for the main event we see Kofi Kingston walking backstage where Cody Rhodes confronts him about losing the match for Raw.  Kofi tells him to get lost, but Rhodes leaves him laying instead.

Main Event, WWE Championship, No Disqualification, No Countout Falls Count Anywhere, Iron Man Match: Randy Orton vs. John Cena

Well, a lot of people were not excited about the idea of sitting through this one, so I’ll sit through it for you.  It also has the stipulation that if Cena loses he will have to leave Raw, so that doesn’t exactly make the result a mystery, but we’ll see if they can do something good on the way there.  They’re hyping this as the final match of a two plus year long rivalry which is actually the same thing they did with Cena and Edge at Backlash back in April.  Time will tell on this one I guess.  They start out trading holds until Cena gets a hiptoss, but his corner whip is reversed and he goes down.   Now Orton’s whip is reversed and Cena looks for the bulldog, but Orton tosses him off which lets the announcers let us know that they’ve wrestled each other so many times that they know all the counters to the signature moves.  Orton stomps him for a bit, but Cena trips him up and hooks the STF.  Orton immediately taps out to put Cena up 1-0.  The story there is that it’s smarter to give up a fall early in the match rather then risk injury by fighting it.  There’s a 0:30 rest period in between falls too, during which the clock is running as a way to help them kill more time off.  We start again with Orton nailing a powerslam and dropping a knee.  Cena goes to the apron, so Orton suplexes him back in for 2.  To a rear chinlock, which Cena powers out of, and then Cena hits the Throwback.  He follows with the top rope legdrop and goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Orton springs to his feet and hits the RKO for a 3 count to tie the score 1-1.  Starting again, Orton knocks Cena off the apron to the barrier, and then rams him to the steps.  He preps the table and gives Cena a monitor shot in the process.  That gets a 2 count on the floor.  Orton grabs the mic and for a second it looks like he’s going to stop and cut a time wasting promo, but instead he just nails Cena with it.  Cena has been busted open and they actually stop the clock briefly so that a couple of trainers at ringside can check him out.  He doesn’t care though and charges right back at Orton, tossing him to the floor.  Cena follows and rams him to the steps, but a whip to the other steps is reversed and Cena hits from which Orton gets 2.  Orton then sets him on the bottom part of the steps and stomps him for another 2 before getting him back in the ring.

Fifteen Minutes In: Orton works Cena over some more, but the RKO is blocked.  Cena hits two shoulderblocks and the Protobomb, followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle.  He sets up the Attitude Adjustment and it hits, but in mid move, Orton positions himself to take Cena down as well in an RKO.  That was kind of cool but I needed the replay to actually see what happened so it must have been confusing for the fans live.  Anyways, they both end up with an arm on each other and the ref counts both guys down giving them another fall each to make it 2-2.  What’s the point of that other than needlessly running up the score?  The trainers take advantage of the rest period to wipe Cena down and close the cut up.  We get going again with Orton missing a charge, so Cena puts him on the top rope and hits a super Attitude Adjustment for the 3 count to go up 3-2.  Legacy runs in during the rest period and attacks Cena.  Dibiase hits Dream Street and they get Orton on top for the pin to even it again at 3-3.  There was no hint of the tension between Dibiase and Orton here, so perhaps that’s been dropped and they’re once again a big happy family.  After that fall, Kofi Kingston runs in with a chair to clear Dibiase and Rhodes out so there’s a new feud at least.  The match starts up again with a brawl on the floor and Cena rams Orton to the barrier a couple of times.  They fight up to the production area where Orton knocks him down and gets a 2 count.  Cena then gets thrown through some lights with a small explosion going off.  Orton drags him out and covers for a 3 count to take the lead for the first time 4-3.  So now Orton decided that was cool and all, but now he really wants to blow Cena up.  He sets him on the stage where the pyro shoots out of and returns to the control table.  He does a big dramatization of pushing the button, but when he does, nothing happens.  He tries again, but still nothing.  Then he just starts mashing buttons until something finally goes off, but we see that Cena has rolled out of the way just in the nick of time.  And so with that filler idea out of the way, we go back to ringside where he whips Cena to the steps.

Thirty Minutes In: Orton picks up the steps and throws them at Cena which gets a 2 count.  He then nails him with a chair for another 2.  Back in the ring, Cena small packages him out of nowhere and that gets a 3 to tie the match 4-4.  Orton immediately attacks as the rest period begins, but the ref holds him off because that doesn’t go in this anything goes match.  After patiently waiting it out, Orton makes Cena pay by dropping him with the hanging DDT off the apron to the floor.  That gets a 3 count and puts Orton back in the lead 5-4.  They go again with Orton hitting the Garvin Stomp and dropping a knee for 2.  He allows Cena to make it to his feet, and then just knocks him right back down for another 2.  They do that a second time, and then a third, but that time Cena fights back so Orton bails up the aisle.  Cena follows, but Orton keeps eluding him.  Back to the ring they go, where Orton nails him coming in.  He sets up the hanging DDT again, but Cena gets out and tries the Attitude Adjustment again, but Orton escapes that as well.  Orton runs into the crowd and they kill more time as Cena chases him all the way up and back down to ringside, stopping occasionally to get a few shots in.

Forty Five Minutes In: Cena gets him back over the barrier and covers for 2.  Running him to the stairs gets another 2, and then he sends him right through the part where the ring announcers and timekeeper sit.  He then picks up the steps and nails Orton with them before setting them up next to the announce table.  Attitude Adjustment from there through the table gets 3 for Cena and ties us up at 5-5 with about nine minutes to go.  He waits out the rest period and immediately covers again, but this time Orton kicks out at 2.  Cena sets a table in the ring and puts Orton on it for a legdrop, but Orton avoids it and Cena breaks the table.  Both guys make it to their feet and start trading shots with Cena retaining the advantage.  He sends Orton off and sits a shoulderblock, but on a second one, Orton ducks and Cena takes the ref out instead.  Orton hits the RKO but there’s no ref to count.  A new one quickly runs in to count, but Cena kicks out at 2.  Orton takes out his frustrations on the new ref, and then sets Cena up for the punt, but it misses and Cena hooks him in the STF with just under a minute left.  Orton fights and fights but with five seconds left he taps out to put Cena up 6-5 and then the 60:00 time limit expires at 60:24 (counting the time they stopped the clock to check on Cena’s cut).  Cena regains the WWE Title yet again in the “final” encounter between these two.  I watched it once, and I can safely say that I never want to see this match again.  I was worried they’d have trouble filling time, and I was right.  What they basically did was take their standard 20:00 PPV main event, and they stretched it out to 60:00.  They had the benefit of being able to do all the falls to keep it interesting, but all they really did here was prove that neither of them are true sixty minute men.  It has some redeeming value, but as a main event and supposed blowoff to a major multi year feud, it fails.  **

Alright, so that’s Bragging Rights.  My two main feelings coming out of it are that I don’t care about anything I just saw, and that this may be the most forgettable show in years.  The action was fine, not really any better or worse then anything you might see on any other PPV and certainly nothing blew me away.  Then that Ironman Match came on, and well, maybe the less said about that one going forward, the better.  Thumbs Down for Bragging Rights 2009 and a recommendation to just forget about it.

Yesterday Finlay walked into my room, while I was working on my thesis. At first I thought he brought me a little surprise from his nappie, but thankfully he only found his Play-Doh containers.

Earlier tonight saw the completion of Bragging Rights, a WWE pay-per-view featuring three matches between RAW and SmackDown! superstars/divas/let’s just call them ‘wrestlers’ for…you guessed it…bragging rights. The other two matches were a 4-way for the World Heavyweight title (which will be referred to as ‘Goldie’ from this point forward) and and an ironman match between John Cena and Randy Orton for the WWE title.

In theory, a great card, right? Hell, I just added $40 to my cable account, and I’m broke as shit.

Unfortunately, as has been the case with WWE for quite a while now, in theory does not mean in practice.

Here’s a short breakdown of each match, for those who wisely chose to save their money:

U.S. champion The Miz def. Intercontinental champion John Morrison; RAW leads Bragging Rights, 1-0

This match should’ve been better, but it was acceptable. Plus, these two will have far more chances to compete against each other in the future, assuming one doesn’t go the Marty Jannetty route and shovel vast amounts of

booze, pills and who knows what else into his body.

Morrison flew around and outside the ring because he’s Young Shawn Michaels 2.0 (with a better look and better gimmick). Miz played his angry, overaggressive heel part and relied some chicanery and about as much of a power game as is believable from a professional wrestler who weighs 230 pounds.

The match revolved around Morrison’s finisher, a split-legged corkscrew moonsault from the top rope called Starship Pain. The first time he set it up, Miz rolled out of the ring. The second, Miz got up, threw off Morrison’s balance and pinned him. A better finish would’ve been desired, but it was a sneak one and, well, The Miz is supposed to be sneaky.

Women’s champion Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya def. Divas champion Melina, Gail Kim and Kelly Kelly; Bragging Rights tied at 1.

There’s really not a lot to say. It was dull. It was boring…it was a WWE Diva match. Beth hit her finisher on Melina for the win. Now let’s move on, but not before a gratuitous photo of Kelly Kelly…Kelly. For more, Google her real name (Barbie Blank) and thank me later.

Feel better? So do I. Moving right along…

The Undertaker def. Batista, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio to retain Goldie

The biggest part wasn’t how Taker won (or how). It was the Rey/Batista dynamic, which resulted in quite possibly the best part of the PPV that didn’t involve John Cena getting the holy shit kicked out of him. At one point, Batista hits his powerbomb finisher on Taker, then covers. Mysterio breaks up the pin, since that’s what you do when it’s a Fatal 4-Way.

Batista loses his shit.

First, he breaks up Rey’s cover then, after a brief argument, shoves him out of the ring. After the match, Josh Matthews interviews the pair in the ring. Batista says he’s tired of his friend stabbing him in the back, then beats up a man half his size to a pulp. That, my friends, is how you turn heel.

Naturally, this sets up for Batista and Rey to settle things at Survivor Series, then possibly a heel Batista facing Taker for Goldie at Whatever-the-Hell-the-WWE-December-PPV-Is-Called.

As you noticed, CM Punk wasn’t much of a factor. Oh well. I’m sure as a result of his diminshed role he’ll go have a smoke, or get tanked, or snort some…oh wait. He’s the Straight Edge (TM) dude, right? Oops!

Chris Jericho, Kane, Finlay, Matt Hardy, R-Truth and The Hart Dynasty def. D-Generation X, The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry; SmackDown! wins Bragging Rights, 2-1, and earns a shiny trophy.

Basically, a typical example of the WWE philsophy that, since tag-team matches are cool, they should fit as many  people as possible in a tag-team match. First off: No. Second: Why not save something like this for Survivor Series, go elimination-style and avoid a clusterfuck?

It also followed the typical WWE formula: normal tag match for a while, things start to break down, bodies fly everywhere right before someone hits a finisher on the only other dude in the ring. This case was a little different. With the choice of beating up fellow tag champion Chris Jericho or RAW teammate Kofi Kingston, Big Slow did the latter and chokeslammed top-rope-perched Kofi.

SmackDown! wins and Todd Grisham seems happy that it is the ’superior’ brand. Yay.

John Cena def. Randy Orton, 6-5, in Ironman Match to win WWE championship

John Cena. Randy Orton. No DQ. Ironman match. Even WWE can’t screw this up…right?

…right?

Wrong. Very wrong.

The first ironman match was a classic. Unfortunately, Randy Orton and John Cena are not Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

To put it mildly, this match sucked. It sucked so bad, I’m not even gonna waste a ton of space on it. There were some cool spots (simultaneous RKO and Attitude Adjustment, Orton DDT from apron to floor, Orton trying to blow Cena up with pyro on the stage, Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment from the newly transported ring steps onto the announcers’ table), but a lot…I repeat, a lot of cheap pins. It was like the booking committee decided the more decisions, the better the match.

WRONG.

Hart/Michaels at WrestleMania XII was a classic, and it had zero decisions in 60 minutes. This was an ironman match intended to keep the attention span of the legion of 8-year-old Cena fans. Meanwhile, this 24-year-old Orton fan quickly lost interest because basically anything resulted in a pin. Plus, I’m sure they could have cut this match even at a semi-moderate pace and done all these spots in about 25-30 minutes.

Oh well. Get used to more of what’s below, against an opponent who likely will be instantly elevated from the middle of the card. Oh boy.

]]> http://canadiansportschick.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/bragging-rights-predictions/ Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:36:01 +0000 Canadian Sports Chick http://canadiansportschick.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/bragging-rights-predictions/

I’ve made it clear I’m not thrilled with the Bragging Rights concept. I think it’s boring, badly handled and makes no sense. However, if the WWE wants to shake things up, that’s up to them and I’ll try to buy into the premise and try to figure out why we should care which brand is better.

The Miz vs. John Morrison
To me, this is the most interesting match on the card. These two guys had great chemistry as tag team partners, hopefully they can bring that same chemistry as competitors. They both seem to be on the verge of big things and I want this match to be the one that pushes them over and handled well, it could be. I think The Miz needs the victory more than Morrison does to solidify as a solid contender (and he hasn’t had a PPV victory yet), so I’m giving him the victory.
My Pick: The Miz

Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya
Can I tell you how thrilled I am to see Natalya in this match? I think she deserves much more attention than the WWE has given her, because simply put she’s the most talented diva on the WWE roster. I think Smackdown is taking this one, to make the two shows even going into the main event, and simply because the Smackdown divas are more worthy of victory.
My Pick: Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya

Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kofi Kingston, The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger and Mark Henry vs. Chris Jericho, Kane, Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, R-Truth, Matt Hardy and Finlay
First I’m so thrilled to see the Hart Dynasty in this match, getting some major exposure and I hope we get to see them in the ring. In fact, I hope we get to see all the younger guys show what they are capable of. Smackdown is so winning this, obviously that was the plan all along and the team change was to make it more believable. Either The Big Show or Cody Rhodes is going to screw Team Raw. I’m voting the Big Show, since the DX vs. Legacy storyline is over and Legacy is busy self-destructing. I’m predicting a DX/Jerishow bout for the title at the next PPV and this will be the lead in.
My Pick: Team Smackdown

The Undertaker vs. Batista vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio for the World Heavy-Weight Championship
Punk seems like the only choice here. Who else is logical? The old guy who looks like he can barely move in the ring? Or the guy who spends more time on the disabled list than in the ring? Or the guy who just got back from a suspension? Yeah, not loving any of those choices. So Punk makes sense, plus he was a great heel champion. But, I don’t think that’s going to happen, not after the way he was booked on Friday, so of my three unpalatable options, I’m going to go with Batista since I think the Undertaker is going to be feuding with Vince McMahon (yawn) and I just don’t see Mysterio getting a championship run right now.
My Pick: Batista

Randy Orton vs. John Cena in an Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship
The biggest challenge of this match will be keeping it interesting for an hour. Iron Man Matches are so rare, because they’re so challenging. I’m hoping that these two can bring it, that they can make it the match of the year. These two work well together and have had some great matches, so there is some optimism there. This should be a brilliant match, filled with intensity and these two men pushing themselves and each other to the brink. I want the same intensity I saw from them at Breaking Point and if I get that, I’ll be a happy girl. I think Cena’s winning because I don’t see him switching brands, not right now anyway.
My Pick: John Cena

The two biggest absences from the card, in my opinion, are Dolph Ziggler and Ted DiBiase, but I suspect that they’ll both get involved. Ziggler in The Miz/Morrison match and DiBiase in the Orton/Cena match. Both men are two hot right now, not to appear in some and with brewing storylines, it’d make sense for them to get involved in the aforementioned matches.

Does anyone really believe that the changed Smackdown line-up was the plan the whole time? Obviously all the criticism about the weakness of the Smackdown team in comparison to the Raw one made them change their minds. Can’t say I blame them, the new team is much stronger. The only member of the old team I felt should have stayed was Dolph Ziggler, since I think he deserves a push, but everyone else could go. Matt Hardy, R-Truth, Finlay and the Hart Dynasty will definitely add character to the Smackdown team and I’m thrilled that the Hart Dynasty finally appear to be getting a decent push.

Still, I think it’s a bad move to change the line-up two days before the PPV, which honestly seems a little lame to begin with. I think the WWE went about this whole Bragging Rights thing the wrong way. It could have been a neat idea, but they’ve handled it so badly that I honestly don’t care who wins and I don’t think anyone really does. Not a huge Cyber Sunday fan, but it was a better gimmick.

Mickie James looked better than she has in a long time, which is good because I think Mickie is one of the most talented women on the roster, despite the fact that she’s been off lately. I think the move to Smackdown and some fresh competition will do her good. Plus it was nice to see Mae Young and I always enjoy watching Michelle McCool get slapped around, so that was a plus.

For some reason, Vince McMahon is the one out to screw the Undertaker. Not sure where that is going and not sure I care. I just want the title back on Punk and I want him to not be a heel. Please? I think Punk makes a great face and is a character with such a good message and he’s a total waste as a heel. I’m hoping creative comes to their senses soon, but I’m not betting on it.

All in all the show was meh and not good-enough for a go-home show. There was nothing there to get me psyched about the PPV and nothing to convince me not to change the channel (which my roommate begged me multiple times to do), nothing except for this blog. It was bad, people, really bad.

Jeez – just three weeks and already another WWE event?  There used to be two PPVs in October for a reason.  Aside from No Mercy, the WWE had a novel little event called Taboo Tuesday in which fans voted on the stipulations and even participants of the matches for the night.  Then it turned out having a PPV on a Tuesday was a bad idea, so it became Cyber Sunday.  The event was pretty cool in that the WWE actually followed the fans’ votes rather than rigging it themselves, but because of it, matches had to be planned on the fly and some of them ended up suffering for it.

Well, those days are gone and in its place we get the new gimmicked PPV Bragging Rights featuring Raw vs. Smackdown matches and coincidentally being released right along with this year’s Smackdown vs. Raw video game.  Puuuuure coincidence.  The card’s not big, due to the length of the main event, so follow along.

Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship
Randy Orton(c) vs. John Cena
Apparently someone realized the Orton vs. Cena feud had been going on for half-past forever, so they’re bringing it to a close with an hour long match.  The match was proposed by Cena with the stipulation that afterwards there will be no rematches.  The winner moves on and the loser lingers out of the title picture.  Seeing himself at something of a disadvantage, Orton changed the stipulation to if Cena loses, he must leave Raw “forever”.  Cena accepted, and now everyone’s wondering if he’ll be a Smackdown superstar next week.  He sure isn’t going to ECW.

Randy Orton and John Cena are definitely comfortable around each other and work well with one another, but I question if the two of them can make an hour long match worthwhile.  Despite the complaints against him, Cena is a pretty good worker, but he usually sticks to the same process, which is fine for a regular PPV match, but what about one that is three times as long?  Sure, Orton’s pretty good himself, but again, I question whether the two can pull out the necessary stops here.  There’s one thing for sure – this isn’t going to be Hart/Michaels.

As for results, I’m guessing that despite all the setup for Cena leaving, he regains his belt and stays on Raw.  Orton has been having tension with Ted DiBiase as of late, and I feel like he’s going to get involved somewhere here, perhaps costing Orton a fall during the match.

14-Man Raw vs. Smackdown Tag Team Match
D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H), Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry vs. Chris Jericho, Kane, the Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd), Finlay, R-Truth and Matt Hardy
To give the PPV’s name some meaning, this match was set up with the ultimate prize being a fat load of nothing bragging rights to call their show the Dominant Brand of Sports Entertainment.  With a whole three weeks to set up, the two shows set their rosters last week, then spent this week getting in each other’s faces.  Well, at least they did that on Raw.  Smackdown used the go-home show to completely changing its lineup, removing Cryme Tyme, Dolph Ziggler, Eric Escobar and Drew McIntyre in favor of the Hart Dynasty, Finlay, Matt Hardy and R-Truth.

While I agree that the new lineup is a better representation of Smackdown (and preventing a full roster of heels), this really should have been done on week 2 to give the team a little bit of time to sell the idea to the fans that they could work together.  Having it on the last show reveals that a) they have no time to mesh as a team and b) this PPV had too little set up time.  I’m also not sure if this match is elimination or single fall.  Either way, it’s going to be fast and expect at least one full team brawl.

So who wins?  That would be Team Raw.  While Smackdown does have a more experienced team now, they are also completely made up of guys who take a lot of losses.  Jericho is the punching bag of Jerishow, Kane teeters back and forth from dominance, the Hart Dynasty regularly loses to Cryme Tyme, R-Truth is being horribly wasted, Matt Hardy has lost all his steam from his too bried heel run and Finlay is about on the level of Tommy Dreamer.  Raw has guys on hot streaks (DX, Rhodes, Swagger, Kofi) along with the size of Big Show and Mark Henry.  It’s going to be Team Raw with the win.

Fatal Four-Way Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Undertaker(c) vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
This came about when CM Punk demanded his rematch from his loss at Hell in a Cell, and GM Teddy Long was upstaged by Vince McMahon in an effort to…uh…well, I’m not really sure where the McMahon/Long stuff is going.  Apparently, McMahon is trying to get Long on the bad side of the Undertaker while holding his job over his head.  I hope this doesn’t end up with Long getting ‘fired’ as he really has been a consistent bright spot for Smackdown in his years as GM.

So to keep the crowd from Punk/Taker III, Batista and Rey were tossed in fresh off their loss at Hell in a Cell (hey, I gave TNA crap about it too).  This match will be alright – Punk and Taker are good, Rey’s exciting and Batista’s got his act down.  I’m thinking Taker retains here (though I hear he’s nursing an injury) and animosity will raise between Rey and Batista.  I suppose.  I’m not really excitied by this match.

Raw vs. Smackdown Match
The Miz vs. John Morrison
While this is the Intercontinental vs. United States champions (for bragging rights, mind you), the real story here is between former (Slammy Award winning) tag team partners Miz and Morrison.  They were a dominant tag team from ECW showing up on every show until Miz got drafted to Raw and immediately turned on his partner (who had lost the draft pick in a match).  This was never really followed up on as the shows have actually pretty good about locking down their rosters on their shows.  Now, finally, the animosity is back as both have become successful singles competitors on their respective shows.

I’m thinking that Morrison will be winning this match for two reasons.  One, he’s the face in the feud.  Two, I think team Raw will be winning the big Raw vs. Smackdown match, so Smackdown will win the two smaller ones leading into something at Survivor Series.  The match will be excellent, as not only are they good on their own, but after so long of tagging, they know each other very well and can work together.  This has the potential to steal the show.

6-Diva Raw vs. Smackdown Tag Team Match
Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya
To toss in some eye candy, but keeping with the theme, the shows’ respective women’s champions are in action with two of their show’s divas.  So we have the Raw team of faces in Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. the Smackdown team of heels in Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya.  There’s really no story here.  Just a tag match.

I fully expect the heels to get the win here, with Beth Phoenix likely pinning Gail Kim.  Phoenix will then get all up in Michelle McCool’s business about her Women’s title.  I’m fairly confident on this one.

Worth buying?
It all depends on how much you like Randy Orton vs. John Cena.  The other matches are pretty much blow offs, but if you’re into the iron man match, then by all means, yes.  It’ll be decent, the Miz/Morrison match will be good, and the others will be so-so.  I’ve got a group that is getting it (including the other two writers of this blog) so I’ll be enjoying it live.

Wrestlemania is coming round fast so I thought id make this wrestlemania wallpaper in the meantime.

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