I had a night out last night (FINALLY seeing Toy Story 3), so I was unable to catch the show live. So here's a Q'n'D.
-Backstage, Teddy Long announces the concept for the Money in the Bank PPV. Drew McIntyre walks in irate over last Sunday, but Long tells him he's running the show his way. Long reinstates Matt Hardy and books him against McIntyre.
-The Big Show d. Jack Swagger by DQ - Swagger locks in an ankle lock and keeps it on past the 5 count. Pre-match, Swagger announces he's cashing in his rematch clause for the MitB PPV.
-Kofi Kingston, MVP & Christian d. Dolph Ziggler, Vance Archer & Curt Hawkins - Faces win with a Christian Killswitch on Dolph.
-Matt Hardy d. Drew McIntyre - Matt wins clean with the Twist of Fate. Post-match, Teddy Long appears on the Titan Tron and informs McIntyre that his Visa has expired. Segment ends with security removing Drew and presumably shipping him back to Scotland.
-Cody Rhodes comes out to try out his new persona. He's now Dashing Cody Rhodes. So instead of a generic heel, he's now a generic narcissistic heel. Goody.
-Dolph Ziggler offers Vickie Guerrero an ultimatum. He wants an IC title match.
-Kelly Kelly d. Rosa - Kelly hits the K2 and wins in less than 30 seconds.
-Vignette airs for Alberto Del Rio (a.k.a. Dos Caras). Wait, is this THE Dos Caras? Wikipedia says it's Dos Caras Jr. The world is full of liars. Everybody lies, except for him, the one true honest man. Ooh, this looks interesting.
-Kane v. CM Punk in a No DQ match goes to a No Contest. Kane wipes out Gallows and THE MASKED MAN~! (now in camo wrestling regalia, FWIW), while Punk literally flees the building.
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Back for a full report next week.
(edited by It's False on 26.6.10 1228)
Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me.
I'm glad they're giving Kane a push, I've always liked him. I've always got a kick out of him when he starts trash talking his opponents while looking at them like he's talking baby talk.
I'm completely ambivalent toward Kane and have no particular preference as to his future usage. However, at 43 years old and with an increasing presence in the political arena, I can't imagine he intends to hang around the WWE a whole lot longer.
Two things from the opening segment: When Teddy was kicking Drew out of his office, Vickie Guerrero sided with Teddy. Also, apparently there are going to be two Money in the Bank matches at the PPV. (And hopefully that's all, surely they won't do a divas' MITB.)
Swagger almost botched the ankle lock at first but quickly recovered. He certainly looks better using it than Batista did. I'll be interested to see if the announcers acknowledge any correlation between Swagger using the ankle lock and Rey Mysterio's known knee problems.
I'll give Cody some credit. While his segment was a bit boring, at least it wasn't absolutely horrible. Half of the roster probably couldn't talk for that long without getting completely lost.
Rosa jump roping was... was... well, it certainly was. I thought perhaps they were going to turn her face, since she was caving in to LayCool's taunting, but when the entrance of someone who's not even involved in the match lasts longer than the match itself, it's fairly obvious that nobody put enough thought into the segment to think a turn would be coming out of it.
Also, it was on Superstars, not Smackdown, but I have to give props to the segment where the Bella Twins tried to switch places and the referee was smart enough to check and realize that one of them was sweaty and make her get back into the match. Granted, they immediately switched places again when he turned his back but it was still an entertaining segment.
And while it was lame to get yet another non-finish to a main event, I was highly entertained by Punk running out the door, across the street and down the road. Knowing Punk, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't arrive next week out of breath, claiming to have run all the way to the next show.
I like "Uncommon" Cody Rhodes more than "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, personally. His jacket was pretty cool. His promo? Tooooooo long.
Drew McIntyre being returned to Scotland because of an expired Visa sounds like a storyline coverup for a failed drug test. If Vince McMahon wasn't "out of commission", I'd expect to see Drew back next week, but I dunno. Anyone have further insight?
Oh, and to hell with Rey Mysterio - he wins the title and isn't there this week? Yes, I know he's on vacation, but still...
(edited by Oliver on 26.6.10 2039) 2009-2010 WHL Fantasy League Champion!!!
Originally posted by InVerse And while it was lame to get yet another non-finish to a main event, I was highly entertained by Punk running out the door, across the street and down the road. Knowing Punk, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't arrive next week out of breath, claiming to have run all the way to the next show.
Better still would be the SES attacking Kane next week, and then demanding that a ref count the pin on the grounds that the match last week, as a no-DQ (and presumably no-countout) match couldn't have ended without a decision and therefore was still in progress.
Originally posted by OliverI like "Uncommon" Cody Rhodes more than "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, personally. His jacket was pretty cool. His promo? Tooooooo long.
Drew McIntyre being returned to Scotland because of an expired Visa sounds like a storyline coverup for a failed drug test. If Vince McMahon wasn't "out of commission", I'd expect to see Drew back next week, but I dunno. Anyone have further insight?
Oh, and to hell with Rey Mysterio - he wins the title and isn't there this week? Yes, I know he's on vacation, but still...
(edited by Oliver on 26.6.10 2039)
The promo was long but that actually made it work for me. And as bland as some parts of it were, the crazy thing is, this will eventually get him over.
I wonder too where this will lead with Drew, and why they took the drastic "escort him out of the country" turn. Unless they have a show in the UK within the month...
Smackdown was fully booked already so I didn't mind not having Rey on there. And it means that he can get as much rest for his knee(s) as possible.
Kane is an Attitude era relic that hasn't been interesting to me since he had to take off his mask and went on a rampage back in '03. He has been involved in a ton of wrestlecrap(which isn't his fault), and a guy that really hasn't had too many good match. I would say his best match match probably was over eight years ago on Smackdown when Angle carried him to a 3+ star match. He was a journeyman highly medicore wrestler that lucked into a great gimmick that would always will be over.
Originally posted by graves9He was a journeyman highly medicore wrestler that lucked into a great gimmick that would always will be over.
I always thought he lucked into one of the stupidest gimmicks there is (OH NO IT'S YOUR DEAD BROTHER BACK FROM THE GRAVE TO GET REVENGE ON YOU FOR KILLING YOUR PARENTS BUT YOU ARE ALSO DEAD SO BEING DEAD ISN'T SO BAD? I DON'T KNOW BUT HE'S HERE!)
That plus all the crap he came in with like lightning bolts, inferno matches with 5" flames, Tori with X-Pac, Katie Vick, etc, and yet the guy is still able to pull off being 10X a more menacing big guy than The Big Show. I think that says a lot not only about the character, but also the guy playing it.
Originally posted by graves9He was a journeyman highly medicore wrestler that lucked into a great gimmick that would always will be over.
I always thought he lucked into one of the stupidest gimmicks there is (OH NO IT'S YOUR DEAD BROTHER BACK FROM THE GRAVE TO GET REVENGE ON YOU FOR KILLING YOUR PARENTS BUT YOU ARE ALSO DEAD SO BEING DEAD ISN'T SO BAD? I DON'T KNOW BUT HE'S HERE!)
That plus all the crap he came in with like lightning bolts, inferno matches with 5" flames, Tori with X-Pac, Katie Vick, etc, and yet the guy is still able to pull off being 10X a more menacing big guy than The Big Show. I think that says a lot not only about the character, but also the guy playing it.
Hey I said he set records in being in wrestle crap storylines but he came in with a Main Event level feud with a top star in The Undertaker. The character was over from the start and yes he played and plays the character very well. I mean this character wasn't doomed to fail like New Diesel or The Demeanted Dentist.
Originally posted by graves9Hey I said he set records in being in wrestle crap storylines but he came in with a Main Event level feud with a top star in The Undertaker. The character was over from the start and yes he played and plays the character very well. I mean this character wasn't doomed to fail like New Diesel or The Demeanted Dentist.
Fair enough. Although a lot of other people have come in to a main event level feud with The Undertaker. A number of his Wrestlemania wins were against guys who were big freaks that had to be carried to * matches. Nothing came from any of them.
I think if portrayed much differently, the "long dead, back from the dead, brother wants revenge" gimmick from Days of our Lives would have been just as doomed as evil dentists or fake WCW stars.
Jack Swagger is now the new Kurt Angle after his ankle-lock on the Big Show. Cody Rhodes wasted 15 minutes of air-time to tell us all he now the "Dashing" Cody Rhodes (is there anything else for Rhodes?). And then there was the vignette of Alberto Del Rio where he said he was the one true honest man (a Spanish Chris Jericho?).
I am however hoping for a IC title run with Dolph Ziggler and his segment with Vickie Guerrero. The guy would be a good IC title holder and some of us thought he was going to win the IC title awhile ago when he was given a small push. Maybe his time to finally have some gold will come soon.
Hopefully next week will offer some more substance than this past Smackdown's episode.
They sure did have the announcers make a big deal about that final segment with Punk ("The Straight Edge Society, as we know it, is over!") ... Are they actually going to break up that stable, or was I just reading too much into it?
"All RAW is these days is a cheap version of Saturday Night Live, so if you wanna tune in to watch the amazing star power of Al Sharpton and Nancy O'Dell, go ahead! Who's gonna host next week, Big Bird? Wow, that's must-see TV!" - John Morrison (10/16/09 Smackdown!)
Originally posted by AlessandroThey sure did have the announcers make a big deal about that final segment with Punk ("The Straight Edge Society, as we know it, is over!") ... Are they actually going to break up that stable, or was I just reading too much into it?
I thought the exact same thing, and then I realize that it was Matt Striker saying it, so I immediately discounted it.
It is the policy of the documentary crew to remain true observers and not interfere with its subjects. "Well. Shit." -hansen9j
Originally posted by graves9He was a journeyman highly medicore wrestler that lucked into a great gimmick that would always will be over.
I always thought he lucked into one of the stupidest gimmicks there is (OH NO IT'S YOUR DEAD BROTHER BACK FROM THE GRAVE TO GET REVENGE ON YOU FOR KILLING YOUR PARENTS BUT YOU ARE ALSO DEAD SO BEING DEAD ISN'T SO BAD? I DON'T KNOW BUT HE'S HERE!)
That plus all the crap he came in with like lightning bolts, inferno matches with 5" flames, Tori with X-Pac, Katie Vick, etc, and yet the guy is still able to pull off being 10X a more menacing big guy than The Big Show. I think that says a lot not only about the character, but also the guy playing it.
I realize that it is something that hasn't been used much in the WWF/E, but I'm surprised they never gave Kane the power to throw a fireball. It would work well with the character, especially when he is a psychotic heel.
Originally posted by redsoxnationI realize that it is something that hasn't been used much in the WWF/E, but I'm surprised they never gave Kane the power to throw a fireball. It would work well with the character, especially when he is a psychotic heel.
The only reason I haven't completely written this off as a loss is I remember the stunned reaction to the fact that Steph v. Trish at the Feb 2001 PPV was actually a quite good match.