Actually, if they put Orton/Show in the open and the adventures of the Yes Men in the main event, Raw can still be good. The end of that show ruled! I didn't know I wanted to see Shield vs. Wyatts until I did. There's never been a 6-on-6 Survivor Series match before, which means they are LEGALLY FORBIDDEN from calling this a Traditional Survivor Series Match-Up. I hope they get an hour of the PPV.
Cena vs. the Americans was good too. It's always important to remind everyone that John Cena is good, so thank god he won, but he gave them a ton, almost enough to make you think they were saving Cena/Cesaro for something.
Ryback will be built up for Goldberg at Wrestlemania by losing repeatedly to Jerry Flynn.
How did the three man Wyatt family versus the three man Shield getting in each other's faces not occur to me until the option was punching itself right in the face. Then the meatheads stop killing each other long enough to realize they each have similar prey. Punk and Bryan (The Indie Powers) just yucking it up at the chaos up until the abrupt stop and slow turn by all the monsters got a good mark out moment by me. It was like watching the ending to the recent episode of Walking Dead all over again! Now I'm hyped for Survivor Series!
Hopefully this doesn't get shitcanned like Team Punk v. Team Foley was around this time last year.
I dug Bryan and Punk teaming together for "the first time ever!"
(Apparently we're not including the six-man tag they had with Zack Ryder against The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio on the 12/19/11 RAW, the night after Bryan won the World Title and Ryder won the United States Title.)
The Wyatt Family and Shield beating on each other was awesome. Them being all "wait, we're letting Bryan and Punk just stand there" and turning it into a 12-man brawl was even more awesome.
Through the years, Survivor Series elimination matches have been 5-on-5, 20-on-20, 3-on-5, 10-on-10, 4-on-4, 3-on-3, 1-on-4, and 4-on-5. So, yes, 6-on-6 would be a new variation, but I'm pretty sure they could get away with it.
(Hey, if they insist on calling three people who survived the match the "sole survivors", which makes me want to tear my hair out, I'll at the very least give them permission to do a 6-on-6.)
While researching this topic, I found a couple more items of interest.
The 1991 Survivor Series (the fifth event) was the first one to include a singles match of any kind: Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Championship unsuccessfully against The Undertaker. The following year, only one match was a "traditional Survivor Series match".
The 1999 1998 Survivor Series didn't contain an elimination tag-team match at all, because of the WWF Championship tournament. 2002's Survivor Series saw the Elimination Chamber, and no elimination tag-team match.
(edited by ekedolphin on 12.11.13 0621) "Has it never occured to anyone that maybe Kane attacked him, because no one likes The Miz?" --John Bradshaw Layfield, RAW 10/28/13
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Co-Winner of Time's Person of the Year Award, 2006
Originally posted by JustinShapiroWhy are we still doing Curtis Axel.
I'd actually like to ask this question every week until they, y'know, stop. I can't believe that we lost Heyman/Ryback and are keeping Heyman/Axel. It's just...disappointing.
I liked more of the show than I expected to. Loved the main, and watching the authority figures squabble over who was running the show was actually surprisingly fun. I think my favorite bit on the show was the SHIELD getting in Randy Orton's face, and then telling him to "feel better, okay," followed by Randy's look of impotent anger before putting the ice back on his shoulder.
Fiery #BrieMode Brie with fists balled ready to fight kind of makes her like a Diva Pedro Morales. She's ready for any kind of action!
Total Divas announcement: With a heavy heart, sort of, I retire from recappery of Total Divas. I watched the new episode yesterday morning and I decided the following:
Of the cast, I like Brie, I like Nikki, I'm indifferent to Trinity, I don't like Ariane or anyone in her personal circle, I of course love John Cena, but I dislike Jojo, I'm not programmed to respond positively to the Life Model Decoy designated Eva Marie, and, this is the important part, I despise Nattie. I mean, with every fiber of my being, I loathe that woman, her voice, her face, her demeanor, everything about her.
Basically, what would happen is I would just go off on Nattie in a recap and I don't really want to do that. I'm sure some would find it funny, and I would also to a degree, but ya know, life is too short to devote the time and effort into viciously skewering another human being. Because seeing her on my screen involuntarily elicits this reaction from me. I wish it weren't so, I wish I didn't hate her guts, but I do. It's irrational, but this is how it is.
So, I think it's best to walk away from recapping Total Divas. It's best for business.
Since their debut, I have been dreaming of Wyatts vs. Shield at Mania (with probably Shield turning face). Not sure they will hold off that long, but at least it looks like we will get it. With all of the rumors of Reigns getting a solo face run, I was afraid we would never see it. Oh, and Axel can just go away, and take Orton, Show, Ryback, and R-Truth with him. may as well throw Ziggler in there, because they clearly do not care about him and/or have no idea what to do with him.
Originally posted by JustinShapiroWhy are we still doing Curtis Axel.
I'd actually like to ask this question every week until they, y'know, stop. I can't believe that we lost Heyman/Ryback and are keeping Heyman/Axel. It's just...disappointing.
I liked more of the show than I expected to. Loved the main, and watching the authority figures squabble over who was running the show was actually surprisingly fun. I think my favorite bit on the show was the SHIELD getting in Randy Orton's face, and then telling him to "feel better, okay," followed by Randy's look of impotent anger before putting the ice back on his shoulder.
Not to mention, where are they going with Heyman's verbal takedown of Ryback? Turning him face again?
I was under the impression until last week that Kane was a more serious authority figure, but they had him jump right into the opening segment's silliness, though he was a bit more dignified in his backstage segments with Maddox. I really don't like the idea of turning into Kane into John Laurinaitis v 2.0, especially since his appearance last week created a buzz and an intrigue in terms of what direction that would take. To have him be Just Another Authority Goon in a Suit is very disappointing.
All three handicap matches were varying degrees of entertaining.
Man, they had me hooked onto a Shield face turn (especially given their telling off of Orton earlier in the night) before pulling the effective swerve. I got the feeling that the crowd were less fooled than I was, though. Or at least they were unsure who to cheer for in the Wyatt/Shield faceoff.
I've said this before but it was very apparent to me during that final interaction: Roman Reigns is a star. The man has a physicality about him that is palpable. Now Bald Spot Wyatt and Mask Guy Wyatt are both bigger guys, but Reigns dwarfed them in terms of presence. He oozes physical intimidation not unlike Tom Hardy's Bane. I wanted to see him and Bray go at it much more than I wanted to see the 12-man at the end. (Make no mistake, if given any kind of decent time, that match will tear it up at the PPV.)
Originally posted by HokienauticNot to mention, where are they going with Heyman's verbal takedown of Ryback? Turning him face again?
Nah, they're just burying him because they've decided he sucks after wasting 18 months of a perfectly good push on him.
I too got the Shield face-turn vibe from the epic ME stuff. Or possibly a false-turn for Ambrose and Rollins, with them abandoning Reigns during a six-man.
When Vince finally turns things over to HHH, I hope the first thing HHH does - after he brings Kevin Dunn into the ring, rips of his shirt, uncomfortably slaps him on the chest for ten minutes, makes a few weird insider jokes not even any of us get, pedigrees him and then legit fires him and assigns a new person to run the show - is replace all the PREVIOUSLY ON RAW TWO MINUTES AGO! segments that are murdering Raw with R-Truth coming out before every match or interview segment to rap us up to date on What's Up on Raw with these wrestlers.
Except for Dolph Ziggler. I assume they just wouldn't bother, no raps for him.
Re: Roman Reigns, I'm convinced now it's the noises he makes when he does stuff in the ring that make him really stand out. That awesome "rrrrrrRRRRRRRRAAAAhhhh!" he does on a basic punch makes it sound like he's murdering people on all of his moves. This is definitely a guy who made high-quality lightsaber and machine gun noises when playing as a kid, and now it's paying off in a major way.
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoIt has been so long since I have seen an internet wrestling retirement, it felt like a blast from the past.
I resigned myself to the fact that, like retirements in wrestling itself, I'll never fully give it up. I'll just keep limping along in my wrestling fandom, clinging to The Business(tm) like an overattached abused ex. The abuse keeps coming, but occasionally there's the apology note and bouquet of flowers that is a Daniel Bryan title win over John Cena and I'm strung along for that much longer. "I can chaaaaange him!"
THE TOTAL DIVAS vs. CHICKBUSTERS 2013 Natalya, The Bella Twins & The Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee, Tamina Snuka, Alicia Fox, and uh, Aksana? Heel-turned Kaitlyn? The return of Mickie James?
SANDOW'S SMARTIES vs. THE KOFI KORPS Damian Sandow, Curtis Axel, The Miz and The Real Americans vs. Kofi Kingston, R-Truth Dolph Ziggler and Los Matadores
Actually WWE just announced Daniel Bryan & CM Punk vs. Harper & Rowan, so maybe we're not getting any elimination matches.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaWith a heavy heart, sort of, I retire from recappery of Total Divas.
Please tell me this is just a "lost my smile" moment...your recaps, along with Vince actually giving a flying fuck about the divas division, are the only good things to come from Total Divas. 3 if you count my mancrush on Cena #dreamy
Cena is the most frustrating wrestling personality ever. His character is stale and he's been on top seemingly forever. Conversely, by all accounts he's a genuinely good guy in a business where no one seems to be THAT good...AND he's really good in the ring on top of that.
WWE's attempts to bludgeon us over the head with his good deeds often come off as a guilt trip. I soemtimes paraphrase the old South Park quote:
"Cheer for John Cena. Unless you hate children. You don't hate children. Do you?"
I had the flu for two days and then my wife got the flu today so it's been great having four insane children screaming into our ears. I makes us irritable and hallucinatory.