Vengeance Was Not So Sweet

Hello everyone. First off, I lost my Internet to an idiotic AT&T worker this week, but I'm back!

Alright, Vengeance. I LOVE it when as many titles are on the line as possible, so naturally, I was hyped about the "Night of Champions." I had high expectations, and I think that was a bad idea. I let myself expect good things, so when they did not really happen, it seemed ten times worse than if I had not hyped myself too much. Anyways, quick thoughts.

World Tag Team Titles: This match was actually mostly what I expected, good to open the show with. It just ultimately proves Vince's point of view that he likes the Hardyz as singles competitors.

Cruiserweight Title: Honestly, I considered this one somewhat of a "pick'em." I saw the outcome either way. I'll be honest though, I have read a few rumors of Chavo maybe joining up over at TNA and thought maybe Jimmy Wang Yang would get it. Either way, it was ok, I expected more from Wang Yang mainly because he has shown his wrestling ability back in RoH(I think he was in RoH? Sorry if I got that wrong.)

ECW Championship: Well, obviously a let down, this was my pick for possible match of the night. I do hope Chris Benoit's personal problems are resolved and it was nothing too serious, he is a great individual and an amazing talent. Once I saw Nitro, I expected him to win only because I hope they still want to give Benoit the title, which seems more viable off of Nitro than CM Punk.

Intercontinental Title: I expected this to be somewhat of a squash match and give Umaga the title. Man, I was wrong, it was actually a squash match with Umaga getting disqualified....HUGE difference! :)

United States Title: Somewhat decent, I expected more from the two of these guys. Seemed obvious that MVP would not lose the title. Side Note: Ric Flair's pink robe was pretty sweet, he is the ONLY man that could pull that off!

WWE Tag Team Titles: Wow. Sgt. Slaughter and Jimmy Snuka? Anyone else notice that belly on Snuka? It was quite hilarious in my own view. Anyway, it disappointed me. I know Deuce is Snuka's son, but I was expecting a decent match with The Major Brothers.

World Heavyweight Title: Much better than I expected out of Batista. I liked how they worked Edge cheating and then Teddy Long restarting the match. I also enjoyed the second ending of Batista basically screwing himself by power bombing Edge on the outside.

Women's Title: Stock women's match. Woo.

WWE Title: It was only about ten minutes, but it worked. They kept it non-stop(there were five of them) and they managed to get in everyone at some point. Lashley's leap of death was nice, especially since he did not hold onto the rope like he did when he jumped at One Night Stand. Booker took things a little easy for his knee's sake. Randy attempted to give Foley a concussion. Then Cena wins. At least he did not win with the STFU.

Overall, WWE has had some weak Pay-Per-Views since Wrestlemania this year. Backlash was very lackluster, with the main event being decent. I found Judgment Day to be the worst show of the year so far, One Night Stand was good.....until the two main event title matches, and now Vengeance. I would probably put this show on par with Backlash, I did not mind the World and WWE title matches. I'm not expecting much out of the Bash come July(although, the promos for it tonight made me laugh with Kane in there, don't know if anyone else noticed him). Basically, I'm hoping and praying that Summerslam will kick ass. Well, that's all I have for now!

-Jesse

Read More...

WWE Draft Results

The night began with a short promo, in which Mr. McMahon insisted that he had the mental capacity to go through with the draft. Throughout the night, wrestlers, announcers, managers, and anyone involved with the WWE in the past were featured as they spoke candidly about the Chairman. Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin were among the speakers in an obvious effort to relive the Attitude Era.

Edge took on John Cena in a very good match which saw Edge emerge the victor. His joy was soon crushed as The Great Khali was drafted alongside him to SMACKDOWN.

CM Punk took on Carlito in yet another entertaining and fast-paced match. CM Punk won, and The Boogeyman was drafted to ECW, which Punk seemed to be in favor of.

Mick Foley came out and delivered a short promo, saying that he would be challenging for the WWE title at Vengeance.

Umaga beat Balls Mahoney in a squash match and Booker T was drafted to RAW.

Benoit and Lashley fought in a highly-technical match, which I thought was the best match of the night. It wasn't quite a five-star match, but it was damn close. Lashley won the match, but Benoit was drafted to ECW as a result. The two men then shook hands in the ring.

MVP beat Santino Marella in the first match where I felt Santino's skills came out. MVP, however, is getting better every week and it showed as he earned the pick for his brand. Torrie Wilson was drafted to SMACKDOWN.

Snitsky beat The Miz in a squash, but the referee reversed the decision after Snitsky refused to follow post-match instructions. Chris Masters was drafted to RAW.

Candice Michelle soundly beat Krystal, and Bobby Lashley was drafted to RAW and then immediately stripped of his title.

Batista beat Elijah Burke and Jeff Hardy in a decent triple threat match. Ric Flair was then drafted to SMACKDOWN.

The RAW team (Eugene, Kenny, Viscera, Orton, and Nitro) beat the SMACKDOWN team (Matt Hardy, Chavo, William Regal, Mark Henry, and Chris Masters) and the ECW team (Striker, Dreamer, Snadman, Marcus Cor Von, and Kevin Thorn) to win the final TWO picks. The match was an over-the-top-rope Battle Royal and featured an enjoyable confrontation between Viscera and Mark Henry. Other noteworthy aspects include Eugene knocking out teammate Kenny (Eugene's retarded) and Orton knocking out teammate Eugene (Orton's an asshole). Matt Hardy also hit an awesome Twist of Fate on Chris Masters from the other side of the ropes. Randy Orton finished the match by eliminating Matt Hardy. Snitsky and Mr. Kennedy were drafted to RAW.

RAW Lost: The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair
RAW Gained: Booker T, Bobby Lashley, Snitsky, Mr. Kennedy

SMACKDOWN Lost: The Boogeyman, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Mr. Kennedy
SMACKDOWN Gained: The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, Ric Flair

ECW Lost: Bobby Lashley, Snitsky
ECW Gained: The Boogeyman, Chris Benoit

It appears that RAW primarily lost guys to SMACKDOWN, SMACKDOWN primarily lost to ECW, and ECW sent its two McMahon Muscleheads to RAW (neither of which belonged there in the first place). In other words, a conglomeration of talent at the A show was shifted down the ranks to create more equality among the brands. While quantity of talent was shifted away from RAW, the greatest quality went to RAW as it gained the wrestlers who are considered to be the up-and-coming talent (Lashley and Kennedy). RAW and SMACKDOWN gained and lost 4 wrestlers each while ECW gained and lost 2.

In related news, this draft will be supplemented with another draft online (WWE.com) this Wednesday at noon!

A new Vengeance match was announced, which features John Cena against Bobby Lashley, Mick Foley, Randy Orton, and Booker T.

In one of the more bizarre spots ever seen on RAW, McMahon was inexplicably killed from an explosion as the show went off the air. Could this signify a changing of the guard in WWE Upper Management?

Look for Drew's In-Depth Draft Analysis shortly! He'll be discussing the impact of the roster changes, the feuds to look for, which of our writers got it right (hint: none of us), and every aspect of the historic night!

Read More...

Overrated/Underrated Superstars

Since the Matt Hardy post generated a good deal of commentary and Drew reminded us all of the classic literary form of the list, I thought it would be fun to combine both and take a look at the most overrated and underrated wrestlers currently employed by the WWE.

Overrated wrestlers:
5. King Booker. He used to be a good wrestler in his WCW days, but age and a terrible gimmick have taken a serious toll on the man who used to delight us with that spinning thing. He shouldn't be anywhere near a title shot.

4. Umaga. I know he's from the family that produced The Rock, Rikishi, The Wild Samoans, and Yokozuna, but he's just not interesting to watch. Thank God that the powers that be prevented him from ever beating Cena for the title.



3. Matt Hardy. See previous post.

2. Batista. Another one of McMahon's over-muscled favorites, Batista features a limited move set and virtually no mic skills. Without his huge push, he'd just be another Chris Masters.

1. John Cena. The current champ spends his time defeating future legends with a crappy finisher and generally not being able to wrestle. His good mic skills make him a serviceable champion, but not a good wrestler, and certainly not the Hall of Famer he is painted to become.

Underrated wrestlers:
5. Kenny. I think Kenny has been mishandled. First, he was put with the misfit Spirit Squad. Next, he was forced to wear pink tights and main card RAW. What we really have here is a young Owen Hart: whiny, athletic, and trained by the best (Stu Hart and Killer Kowalski, respectively).

4. The Undertaker. I know, I know. How could one of the most decorated champions of all-time make it onto my underrated list? Well, people still doubt The Dead Man. Every year, there are more and more groans about the age and ability of Taker, and yet he continues to show up, most recently evidenced by his over-the-top-rope dive onto Batista at WrestleMania 23.

3. Shelton Benjamin. Another case of names gone wrong (Does anyone know anyone named Bobby Lashley or Kenny Dykstra?!). Benjamin, a two-time state wrestling champion and Ohio Valley product, has all the moves and the looks to make it big in the WWE. Now all he needs is a name and a push.

2. Carlito. Carlito has a downright nasty move set and yet he's stuck with Ric Flair. I know that the Flair dynamic was supposed to make him a better wrestler and more recognizable, but he didn't even make WrestleMania this year. Missing chances to perform on the greatest stage in the world is going to hurt Carlito in the long run, keeping him as one of the most underrated wrestlers.

1. Mr. Kennedy. Yes, the future of the sport (according to Drew's list) is also the most underrated (according to me). Again, I have a problem with the generic yet odd gimmick name. Mr. Kennedy has a unique mix of power, speed, and flight which is seen in few wrestlers. Some of the most versatile (Rob Van Dam, Shawn Michaels) can combine two, but not three. Kennedy needs to develop a more defined personality so he can avoid showing up on this list in a few months.


Please comment on the board with your own lists.

Read More...

"Matt Hardy is the most overrated piece of crap on this roster."

Have truer words ever been spoken? Sharp-witted Edge made this fairly obvious assessment during the November 27, 2006 episode of RAW. Does Matt Hardy suck for a reason or was he just born untalented? The answer, sadly, is both. His career is marked by instance after instance in which Matt was close to some sort of recognition, but ending up falling short. Unless he has his brother Jeff to drag him along, Matt is useless and clueless by himself.

Following a successful tag team career, in which Jeff Hardy won matches and Matt Hardy wore the belt, Matt embarked on his own singles path. This involved a very impressive...European championship run. Matt then turned on Jeff Hardy after being frustrated for not receiving a number 1 contender shot to face RVD. I don't even think Matt Hardy's mother was surprised that he didn't get that spot. But Matt was.

After confusingly naming himself "Matt Hardy-Version 1.0," he went on to win the highly competitive Cruiserweight championship, one of the most storied and sought-after titles in professional wrestling. Past champions include Tajiri, The Hurricane, Spike Dudley, and Funaki.

Then, on April 11, 2005, Matt Hardy received the most attention to his character to date as he was released by the WWE. This action followed Matt's realization that his girlfriend of five years, Lita, was having a legitimate affair with the more successful and better looking Edge.

Hardy would return to the WWE a year later, only to lose to Edge in a loser leaves RAW match. He then went on to compete in the 2006 King of the Ring tournament, losing in the first round to Booker T. Matt then was taken out of action due to a recurring staph infection.

So there you have it. A career defined by piggy-backing off of a more talented brother, losing to just about everyone in the business, being cheated on by a better wrestler, and becoming infected. Twice. If that laundry list doesn't scream "WWE Hall of Fame," then I don't know what does.

Read More...