The show opens with Vince in a studio, "Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE presented a special tribute show, recognizing the career of Chris Benoit. However, now some 26 hours later, the facts of this horrific tragedy are now apparent. Therefore, other than my comments, there will be no mention of Mr. Benoit tonight. On the contrary, tonight's show will be dedicated to everyone who has been affected by this terrible incident. This evening marks the first step of the healing process. Tonight, the WWE performers will do what they do better than anyone else in the world--entertain you."
Match #1 Cena vs Nitro (Champ vs Champ)
Cena was probably the right pick to lead the show off with and this is as good a time as any for Nitro to come to grips with his championship and how he ended up with it.
The match itself was fine. Cena dominated early, Nitro got some nice offense in and the Cena finishes it off with the STFU. Usually I'd bitch about Nitro tapping in his first match as champ or how he didn't look crisp tonight, but none of that matters it was entertaining and that was the point.
Roddy Piper comes out and starts rambling about hardcore only to be interupted by the birthday boy Matt Striker. Matt Striker impresses me big time on the mic and carries Piper and the ole cake in the face gag to a satisfing conclusion.
Piper leaves to his music and we get some Boogie Man. Striker wants no part and heads up the ramp staring at Boogie in the ring. Striker not watching where he is going is his downfall though as Piper is behind him and tosses him back in for a Boogie Man finishing move and worms to the mouth snowball style which Striker chews like a champ. Striker was gold here.
Match #2 Punk vs Burke 2 out of 3 Falls for the #1 contender slot.
Great to see two workers this size get this kind of time. I'm not a good recapper and I'm doing this on the fly from memory so here's the breakdown. Burke gets fall one with a double knee to the back tree of woe thingy. Punk gets the next two falls for the win. The first was via sunset flip rollup and the second by finally landing Burke in his finisher (I'm like JR and don't know the names of them). Fine match but I think that these two could really pull off some good stuff under different circumstances.
Overall, Vince and company did the right thing here. I was afraid Vince would have a bone to pick with some people, Benoit included and I'm glad he took the high road this time. I'm sure he'll take his swings in another time and another place. Classy show.
First two falls seemed really unnecessary - or an excuse to not have to pull out the random match generator to make one or two more matchups. Punk won his second fall with Ye Olde G2Se. This was better than their PPV match that went something like 45 minutes, but not by tons or anything.
As you might guess, the "Bodies" were not hitting the floor - tonight, they used "Famous" (Puddle of Mudd's One Night Stand theme) to accompany the graphics and bumpers.
I imagine Rob van Dam's probably feeling pretty lucky he didn't have to drag himself out there tonight and "perform."
Originally posted by CRZAs you might guess, the "Bodies" were not hitting the floor - tonight, they used "Famous" (Puddle of Mudd's One Night Stand theme) to accompany the graphics and bumpers.
Isn't it about time they retired that song anyway? It's not even that good, and with the unfortunate string of tragedies occuring, it's really becoming more and more inappropriate. I seem to recall they pulled it because of the 9-11 aftermath, no?
Originally posted by CRZAs you might guess, the "Bodies" were not hitting the floor - tonight, they used "Famous" (Puddle of Mudd's One Night Stand theme) to accompany the graphics and bumpers.
Isn't it about time they retired that song anyway? It's not even that good, and with the unfortunate string of tragedies occuring, it's really becoming more and more inappropriate. I seem to recall they pulled it because of the 9-11 aftermath, no?
This is correct. And let's not also forget that the guy who sang this song is also dead himself. Can the bodies stop hitting the floor now?
The Wisdom of Homsar: DaAaAa, these Easter pants are gettin' way too tight!
It was refreshing to hear Joey and Tazz actually CALL the entirety of the matches. They haven't done that in a while (not since the beginning of the new ECW IIRC).I'm assuming it's because obviously the story lines aren't important right now. The STFU still look ridiculously weak. Especially as a finisher.
Reading between the lines (and also actually reading them) I agree with you completely Justin.
(edited by Jericholic53 on 26.6.07 2219) It says so right here in the wcw handbook!
1. What to do with the ECW title? I kind of assumed Johnny was a place-holder champion and would lose it to Benoit soon. They may decide they want a babyface champion and run with CM. I'd have him and Nitro trade it like 6 times over the next year or something, really try to build up some epic rivalry.
2. Figure a vet is going to get moved over to ECW now. I think Regal would work. Him doing the British gent deal there would work.
I think that WWE did the right thing by having Cena come out first ...
And though we had a #1 contender's match, I would still consider it a "throw away" show, meaning "let's just wrestle & not worry about storylines". And judging from the Smackdown spoilers I have seen, they may very well do the same thing for Friday's show.
Matt Striker stole the show for me. I admit I was terrified of what Piper might say with a live mic. He's not someone I'd trust out there after this weekend's events.
The show was weak on wrestling. Headlocks abounded, and Nitro was reduced to punching until he could fire off his pinfall moves. I also hadn't realized he was so slight on the mic. Could be the extenuating circumstances. If he does relax when he speaks, he could very well be their meal ticket for a decade or so.
(edited by Matt Tracker on 28.6.07 0716) "To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker