Nunzio d. Akio with a cradle in the Heat match. Good, but rushed. Crowd got in to the nearfalls at the end. Both men worked hard.
The show opened with no pyro. That's right: NO pyro. That's quite bush-league, I must say. They just did the opening video-package and then cut to MNM coming to the ring. Christ, even WCW in it's dying days kept the PPV pyro.
MNM d. Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas to retain the Tag Titles: Good match, especially towards the end. Like the Heat match, fans got into it because all the guys worked hard. Could have used an extra 5 minutes or so, though. Ended with MNM hitting their combo-DDT finisher on Haas for the win.
Carlito Caribbean Cool d. Big Show: Comedy match. Not bad for what it was. The ref got knocked down, Matt Morgan ran in and gave Big Show an F-5 and Carlito got the pin. Not as impressive as Brock Lesnar's F-5s on Big Show, but just the fact that the man could pull it off at all is impressive enough.
They showed the awesome ECW One Night Stand commercial. Michael Cole said that he loved watching ECW back in the day. I tend to not believe him.
They aired a video rundown of the Angle/Booker feud. It included Angle saying he wants to have bestiality sex with Sharmell. Does noone in WWE realize what bestiality sex is?
Sharmell got delivered lingerie and handcuffs (with a note that said 'Gutterslut' which is kind of funny) from Kurt Angle.
Paul London d. Chavo Guerrero to retain the Cruiserweight Title: Why run the Booker/Angle video-package if the match isn't coming up yet? This PPV has been weird so far. They gave these guys about 10 minutes. While that seems to be too short, it really wasn't. When Paul London was in control the match was great. Unfortunatley, Chavo Guerrero was in control for most of the match, and Chavo must win the 'Laziest Cruiserweight in WWE' award. Still a good match, but dissapointing. Do me a favor WWE, and give Akio that spot and let those two tear the house down at Great American Bash.
Booker was looking for Angle. Shannon Moore was walking around in his gear despite not having a match. Maybe he's just holding out hope or something.
Kurt went into Sharmell's room and basically told her that he'd beat Booker T and then rape her, although not in those exact words. Still, he's quite the charmer.
Booker T d. Kurt Angle: Good match. Match ended out of nowhere when Booker reversed a cradle for the win. It actually looked like a mistake, but the music was all cued up so I guess it wasn't. Angle attacked Booker afterwards and tried to handcuff Sharmell to the ropes, but Booker saved her and handcuffed Angle to the ropes. This allowed Sharmell to slap him a bunch of times and kick him in the nuts. While this angle is incredibly stupid and horridly offensive, the one positive out of it is that Sharmell is a tremendous on-camera personality. They should really keep her around... just not do any more rape angles with her.
Orlando Jordan d. Heidenreich to retain the United States Title: Heidenreich found a 'friend' and read a poem to her. The little girl's idea of feigning enthusiasm was constant screaming. This match was like watching two indy guys wrestle their very first match. Just awful. It's sad when the 10-year-old girl at ringside seems to be the most talented person in the match. Jordan won with a DDT, btw.
JBL cut a promo suggesting that John Cena retire and run for Governor of Minnesota since they'll "elect anybody." I guess he's not a Jesse Ventura fan, then?
Rey Mysterio d. Eddie Guerrero via DQ: Tremendous match. Slower than the usual Mysterio match, but it had to be considering the angle. They got about 18 minute, which was shorter than I wanted, but whatever. Chavo came down to help Eddie, but was stopped by Brian Hebner. Eddie got a chair, but Rey blocked him. Rey went for the West Coast Pop, but Eddie hit him with the chair in mid-air, and Rey won by DQ. Afterwards, Eddie beat Rey Mysterio down with the chair. This is how awesome these guys are: While their were still some light cheers for Eddie before the match, in the end Guerrero had SOLID heel heat with the crowd.
John Cena d. John Bradshaw Layfield to retain the WWE Title: I expected a brawl, because 25 minutes of Cena/Bradshaw submissions would put the crowd into a coma. Cena entered on the flat-bed of a semi-truck with a guy playing turn-tables. I actually thought that was quite clever. Just a vicious brawl. This was actually very entertaining and solid. Cena did a HORRIFIC blade-job, ala Eddie Guerrero last year, bleeding all over himself. They brawled down the aisle. They did a bunch of moves on top of the limousine. Cena threw JBL through a monitor and JBL bladed. JBL then got thrown through some mirrors of the limo, they broke the door off, and then went to the flat-bed truck. They brawled up there for a while, including JBL falling off of a stack of speakers through a table. Cena got one of the smoke-stacks from the truck which had broken off and was gonna' hit JBL with it. JBL said "I quit" before that happened to end the match. Afterwards, Cena hit him with it anyway, knocking him through some glass at the entrance-way. I thought the ending of the match was a little lame. Still, this was an INCREDIBLE match. THIS is what they're WrestleMania match should have been. Great booking, great brawling, tons of blood, and just an overall fun and brutal match.
Afterwards, during Cena's celebration, the opening pyro went off. What the fuck?
Overall, while this wasn't as good as WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, it was by far the best of the B-shows this year. During the first-half I'd pegged this as being on par with Backlash, but the last two matches really put it over the top. I'd recommend this show as the Angle/Booker match was really good and the Guerrero/Mysterio and Cena/JBL matches were tremendous.
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
-Cena and JBL bleed like motherfuckers for my entertainment. Great brawl that puts Cena over as champion way more than the WM win did. Plus the rig entrance ruled it.
-Rey and Eddy get time to tell a great story and make the most of it. It's one of the few cases where I don't hate a DQ finish, since there needs to be a bigger and badder blowoff.
-Morgan giving the F-F-F-F-F-F-5 to Big Show (!)
THUMBS DOWN:
-I like Heidenreich at everything but actual wrestling. He IS the new Sid in that he's a horrible wrestler but I can't not like him. Although God help me if that PA-POW thing gets over.
THUMBS IN THE MIDDLE:
-London being JUUUUST A BIT OUTSIDE with his suicide dive. Otherwise it was a solid match, not great. But that spot sticks out like a sore thumb.
-Booker-Angle was getting good before the sudden ending. I couldn't tell if that was the actual ending, a referee fuckup or sent home early. Also, the backstage stuff was bleh outside of Angle being interrupted in his pounce attempt by his own music.
-MNM-Hollyhaas was OK enough as an opener, but MNM doesn't have any standout double-team stuff outside of their finisher.
Overall, the headline stuff delivered and there was only one outright BAD match. Pretty good show overall.
"Did you get your Journalism degree from a box of Cocoa Puffs?"
Pretty decent show. The 2 best match match both featured a Guerrero ... and I love how Chavo showed up in Uncle Eddie's match ... I kept waiting for one of the oft-rumored Luchadors to show up, but I guess their saving that for a rainy day.
I really enjoyed the main event. Cena must have gotten Shawn Michaels to show him how to blade.
Poor Orlando. This guy is actually capable of putting on a decent match ... & he won by a DDT? Who was the last person to win a WWE match with a DDT? Jake 'the Snake' Roberts?
[quote Mayhem... & he won by a DDT? Who was the last person to win a WWE match with a DDT? Jake 'the Snake' Roberts?
YES! Jake the Snake rules. Even if crack took over his life! Nobody owns the DDT like he did! (Index finger whips in a whirl to the crowd!) Love that crackhaed!
sorry for the nonsense C and A, Jake rules
My first Jake "The Snake" memory; Wrestlemania II: Jake the Snake Vs. S.D. Jones. and now I ask who the hell is S.D. Jones and why did he get a PPV time slot?
I believe the correct answer is The Rock, who got a pin during his iron match against HHH when he botched his floatover DDT and picked up a fall with a regular DDT. But we're being off-topic here.
No one gives two craps about Paul London. The crowd was dead and everyone I could hear around me was heckling the guy to death. They were heckling Chavito, too, but honestly, London's fancy flips (or as Raven says "spotkateer" moves) are not what I think of when I think of a good wrestling match...
I just don't get why many people on the IWC wet their pants for the guy. Even if his match was with Akio, I doubt it would have garnered a different response. Of course, to be fair, maybe it's just Minnesota.
I've never been impressed with London and JD showed me why.
Originally posted by OMEGACena got one of the smoke-stacks from the truck which had broken off and was gonna' hit JBL with it. JBL said "I quit" before that happened to end the match. Afterwards, Cena hit him with it anyway, knocking him through some glass at the entrance-way. I thought the ending of the match was a little lame. Still, this was an INCREDIBLE match.
I agree that the finish was lame. I liked the concept -- Cena does more and more extreme things to JBL until he pulls out some crazy thing to hit him with, and JBL quits. I just think it could have been done with something more impressive than an obviously-very-light fake smokestack. As it was, it kind of left me with an anticlimactic feeling, like "Huh? THAT was the blowoff to all this talk about JBL never quitting?" It felt kind of random that the smokestack was the thing that made him quit, after he'd already been thrown face-first into a TV and beaten with the door of his own limousine.
Originally posted by OMEGACena got one of the smoke-stacks from the truck which had broken off and was gonna' hit JBL with it. JBL said "I quit" before that happened to end the match. Afterwards, Cena hit him with it anyway, knocking him through some glass at the entrance-way. I thought the ending of the match was a little lame. Still, this was an INCREDIBLE match.
I agree that the finish was lame. I liked the concept -- Cena does more and more extreme things to JBL until he pulls out some crazy thing to hit him with, and JBL quits. I just think it could have been done with something more impressive than an obviously-very-light fake smokestack. As it was, it kind of left me with an anticlimactic feeling, like "Huh? THAT was the blowoff to all this talk about JBL never quitting?" It felt kind of random that the smokestack was the thing that made him quit, after he'd already been thrown face-first into a TV and beaten with the door of his own limousine.
Yeah. I would have found it a lot more convincing if JBL quit -after- being knocked through the KOTR '01 glass panel.
I'm not as high on that match as some folks seem to be; outside of JBL and Cena bleeding like hemophiliacs, I didn't see much memorable. But it was definitely better than their Mania match.
I liked London/Chavo, but that was definitely not the match to make someone who wasn't into London sit up and take notice. Can't really blame him for the dead crowd, though, given that WWE put zero effort into promoting the match.
MNM/Haas and Holly was a lot better than I expected, especially with Haas actually getting a chance to shine. He should leave the planchas to Shelton, though -- if he'd been an inch lower, it would have gotten real messy.
Angle/Booker was better than expected, too -- in fact, I think it's the best match Booker has had in years.
The Heidenreich walk is not getting over, but obviously they're going to keep pounding it until it finally catches on by sheer force of repetition.
Eddie/Rey was good, but it still didn't feel like MOTY quality. I may have set my expectations too high, but I still think they can do better. I liked it that Rey worked a more grounded, less high-spotty style -- it's nice to be reminded that he has more depth than he usually uses.
Ling-Ling into battle go Fulfill destiny of the soul Sever skull of adversary Shove it in the poo-poo hole
All the children sing: Kill kill kill kill die die die Kill kill kill kill die die die....
I found the ending very convincing and it will really work well in future angles. JBL is the Numero Uno Pussy in WWE and he just cemented that fact. All those big matches he was in, ended with him being a pussy. I really think it will make for some great promos and future storylines. I think we're just so used to the Triple H syndrome of the top heel always being portrayed as a super tough guy.
"When did they pass a law that says the people who make my sandwich have to be wearing gloves? I'm not comfortable with this. I don't want glove residue all over my food; it's not sanitary. Who knows where these gloves have been?" - George Carlin
Wow, this was a terrific PPV. Cena/JBL was one of the best brawls I've seen WWE do in years...frankly, if the ECW event puts on anything like this, I'll be more than satisfied. Other than the Heidenreich nonsense and the CCC/Big Show comedy match, everything ranged from good to great in terms of match quality.
So there I am, in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, looking for one thousand brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or Ozzy wouldn't go on stage that night. So, Jeff Beck pops his head 'round the door, and mentions there's a little sweets shop on the edge of town. So - we go. And - it's closed. So there's me, and Keith Moon, and David Crosby, breaking into that little sweets shop, eh. Well, instead of a guard dog, they've got this bloody great big Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shopkeeper and his son... that's a different story altogether. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business, really, but sure enough I got the M&Ms, and Ozzy went on stage and did a great show.--- Del Preston
Originally posted by Mayhem Whoa, Billy Kidman DOES still exist.
I missed judgment day. what did billy kidman do?
Kidman was wrestler (or character) "C" in the following oft used scenario.
Wrestler/Character "A" looks around backstage for Wrestler/Character "B". He asks Wrestler/Character "C" if he has seen him. Wrestler/Character "C" either says "no, haven't seen him" or "yeah he went over there"
A = Booker T B= Kurt Angle C = Kidman (Shannon Moore, Bob Holly, Charlie Haas also played the "C" role)
Who gushed worse: Cena or Eddie last year? I've heard Cena bled like Foley in an IWA death match.
I didn't watch this show (wish I had) but, by all accounts I've heard this was a great show featuring Eddie/Rey and Cena/JBL matches that should've happened at WM21. Definitely looking for those two matches and the cruiser matches.
"The way I feel right now, I'd trade my mother if the right deal came along." -- Isiah Thomas.
I don't think that matters. Shelton Benjamin wrestled on Heat for a few weeks, then went to Velocity, then to RAW to form Team Angle. Apparently the wrestlers who appear on the secondary shows can jump to whichever brand they want. --Monte N