Dudleys def. Kidman/London/Mysterio - I can't say much about this one, as I walked into the bar right after the finish.
John Cena def, Booker T - I think the fact that it was short wasn't as much of a problem (considering it's the first match of a best-of-five series), but it really didn't seem to build at all to the finish.
Kane def. Matt Hardy - I expected this to be a much longer brawl, but wasn't surprised at the brevity of the match or the finish considering Hardy's upcoming surgery. I'm not as surprised that HBK didn't do a run-in, as they'll probably save that for the marriage ceremony.
Edge def. Jericho & Batista - An alright match, but they seriously need to hold off on three-ways for awhile. At one point the alternating "man outside" schtick became cartoonish. I was surprised as to how much unintentional heel heat Edge got.
Kurt Angle def. Eddie Guerrero - Good match. I expected it to go longer, but I don't think its length hurt it one way or another. I think that honestly this was the finish that was needed, considering that they have to build Angle back up to the level he was at before...which they certainly didn't do with the Angle/Haas match on Smackdown,,,which, while entertaining, made Angle look weaker for having so much trouble with a guy who hasn't really been given much of a singles push.
Triple H over Eugene - This one was a little better than I expected it to be. Someone else on this thread said that HHH needed to go over to retain his "edge" so to speak, but I really don't see how this benefits him. It hurt Eugene more than it helped HHH. Doing a screwy finish with Regal interference would've been better (and could've lead to an entertaining HHH/Regal program). Oh well.
Diva Search Contestants def. The Women's Division - I don't know what's worse...that this actually happened, or that they're seem to be building a women's title program between Victoria and Trish that's going to stem from a GAME OF DODGEBALL. Christ.
JBL over Undertaker (DQ) - I found this one incredibly dull, and I can't blame the crowd for paying attention to anything other than the match itself. Undertaker applied what was quite possibly the WORST armbar ever during this match. The post-match beatdown was interesting to wach, and provided a somewhat memorable spot, but why have a face do this on a heel? Doesn't make much sense.
Randy Orton def. Chris Benoit - I have to say that for some reason, I was still surprised that Orton went over (even though I probably should not have been). Good match, and a great moment provided afterwards with Benoit shaking Orton's hand.
I'd say overall it was a good, but not great, pay-per-view. The number of heels going over in this was really odd, considering that it's the second biggest PPV of the year (theoretically) and should be the blow-off for a lot of feuds.
The Diva search girls completely owned the WWE Divas. Maybe they felt they had more to prove, but when the Divas first grabbed the balls with the ferocity they did, I thought it was going to be a rout the other way. Maybe they can't aim.
Gail's claim that the ball hit her hat was pathetic. Replays showed conclusively that the ball hit her in the head. Nidia was left against five Diva contestants, and looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
My guess as to why Carmella was missing is maybe Playboy wouldn't allow her to compete in an event where she could get injured, as she is the reigning Playmate of the Year.
Rob Van Dam d. Rene Dupree in the Heat match-- Really good for the pre-show match. They gave these guys a good amount of time (10 minutes or so), and they used it. RVD won with a frog-splash from 3/4 across the ring. Good match.
Dudleyz & Spike d. Mysterio, London, & Kidman-- Great match. You could hear the crowd oohing and aahing at some of London's high-spots. Excellent opener, which ended when the Dudleyz 3Ded Kidman, and Spike pinned him.
Kane d. Matt Hardy-- Sign of the night: "Lita is a Dumas". Matt didn't look injured, which is amazing considering the extent of his ankle-injuries. Short match, which Kane won with a top-rope chokeslam, which looked HELLA' devestating. Lita did her best to act disappointed.
John Cena interrupted a Randy Orton promo and called Todd Grisham "Randy Orton Jr.", which was pretty funny when you saw them standing next to each other.
John Cena d. Booker T-- Okay match, but MUCH shorter than I was expecting. They only went about 7 minutes or so. Ending came out of nowhere, as Booker just kind of walked into the FU.
Eric Bischoff interupted Theodore Long's conversation (with himself) to make fun of the fact that SmackDown changes GMs so often. Man, that's true. Bischoff has been RAW's ONLY GM, where as SmackDown has had 4. Who'da thunk it?
Edge d. Chris Jericho and Batista-- Another match that was shorter than I thought. Okay, but dissapointing. Formulaic WWE triple-threat match, which is one guy playing dead outside while the other two fight in the ring. Edge, who is the hometown boy, was booed BADLY by the crowd. Jericho was the man the people wanted to see win. Lawler & Ross were a little too open about the crowd reaction to Edge, though, which leads me to believe a heel-turn is forthcoming. Edge won with a spear to Jericho.
Kurt Angle d. Eddie Guerrero-- Really good match. Included some stiff mat-work (which resulted in Eddie bleeding from the eye due to a stiff eye-rake). Great stuff. Not as good as their WrestleMania match, but still read good. Crowd went back and forth here. First they were chanting for Angle, then started cheering for Eddie, and then went crazy when Angle won (including chanting "tap" to Eddie). Angle won with the ankle-lock to a bootless Eddie Guerrero. It was another match that was shorter than I expected though (they went 15 minutes, but I was expecting 20-25 minutes).
Triple H d. Eugene-- Match went too long. It was pretty boring as well. The fans booed the shit out of Eugene (where are we? Nassau Coliseum?). Regal came to help Eugene, but Eugene walked into a pedigree. Regal consoled Eugene afterwards.
Contestant girls squashed the WWE Divas in dodgeball. I was busy taking a piss.
John Bradshaw Layfield d. Undertaker via DQ-- Match wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Plenty of Jordan interferance. Match ended when Undertaker hit Bradshaw with the belt, just as the ref was waking up. Undertaker then beat on Bradshaw some more and chokeslammed him through a rubber roof of the limo. Seriously- RUBBER! It looked horrible. The crowd actually did THE WAVE!!!!
Randy Orton d. Chris Benoit-- Excellent match, that was unfortunatley hampered by a dead crowd. Both guys were busted open. Benoit took a HELL of a bump, going for the swandive, and landing FACE-FIRST into Orton's boot. Orton won clean with the RKO, and the fans actually cheered the finish. Benoit then shook Orton's hand, and Orton cried tears of joy. Great way to get Randy Orton over. So, I guess that the Tully Blanchard of Evolution has become the Ric Flair. Great ending to the show!
Overall, a pretty good show. But man, what the fuck was with that crowd. One of the weirdest crowds I've ever seen.
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
Originally posted by The GoonThe Diva search girls completely owned the WWE Divas. Maybe they felt they had more to prove, but when the Divas first grabbed the balls with the ferocity they did, I thought it was going to be a rout the other way. Maybe they can't aim.
Gail's claim that the ball hit her hat was pathetic. Replays showed conclusively that the ball hit her in the head. Nidia was left against five Diva contestants, and looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
My guess as to why Carmella was missing is maybe Playboy wouldn't allow her to compete in an event where she could get injured, as she is the reigning Playmate of the Year.
The dodgeball game was obviously rigged. The brawl at the end of the thing was proof of that. And if Playboy said she couldnt do a rigged dodgeball game because of possible injury, I cant imagine they would let her even be on a wrestling show if they were fearful of injuries. I mean, if she wins, she is gonna do an occassional bump. Even Lillian took a bump tonight. I would attribute her no-show to:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that Y2J, Hunter, and Orton were more over than Benoit.
I think the crowd was upset with the booking. Maybe WWE should have called an audible and have Y2J go over in the triple threat match to appease the crowd. I don't even know if that's possible though.
Although people might not mention it, I thought the Orton/Cena confrontation was a really good sign of things to come. I'd rather see Orton/Cena as champ vs champ at WMXXI than Orton/HHH.
The opener did its job. Nice energy, nice ending. I dig evil Spike.
Kane/Matt was too short but the finisher was credibly terminal. No matter what Matt says online, I don't care that much about this story since Matt has been a piker all along. Won a battle, lost the war.
Booker looked good in his match against Cena, but the pre-match interview with Orton seems to suggest a furture PPV bout, and I think it could be stellar.
A shockingly short three-way match that again leaves Jericho treading water.
Angle/Eddy was solid. Solid, I say. But Angle looked limited in his moveset and I hope this isn't a sign of how much his body is really injured.
Eugene would be a lot more interesting if he copied moves from more than five people. Triple H deserved the audience support because he was the more entertaining of the two.
They either pushed JBL as nigh-invulnerable (he popped a shoulder after a chokeslam and after the Last Ride) or they're trying to devalue Taker (who certainly looked mortal as soon as the match began). I am NOT digging DieselTaker, and the post-match spots only make him look like a pale (pardon the pun) imitator of Terry Funk's school of "win by spectacle."
Orton wins clean, and Benoit demands he "be a man! be a man!" Awesome. Just awesome. Great match, great ending, great title change.
But, damn, this show was no fun to watch. The main event salvaged a thoroughly medicore PPV.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I'm glad nobody went through the Spanish announce table. That crowd didn't deserve it. When you have a crowd that the announcers are taking time to practically apologize for, well...
I really liked Orton/Benoit. There were some great moments in that match. RKO out of nowhere at the end for the quick pin worked well, and Orton playing the shocked title holder was great. I don't know that they could have done it better.
The Kane/Hardy match was about as anticlimactic as a finish has ever been, but it would have been made better if Lita could hurl on command. If she's playing a pregnant character, shouldn't she be able to barf at any point where she's upset?
Could we get a little more smoke going in Taker's intro, please? When they have to switch cameras because he's lost in the fog...
I basically expected some sort of cluster for JBL/Taker. They weren't about to have Taker job to JBL, and why put the belt on a part-timer? So guess I was looking for the lame ending there.
I kind of like this Dudley's gimmick with Spike being the bossy little twit. If they could turn this into sort of a "Fonzie/RVD/Sabu" type deal, it could rule.
I bet the current Divas were told to throw it. That's the only explanation I can think of. And it's nice to see I wasn't the only one who noticed a lack of Carmella during dodgeball. PLEASE tell me she hit the bricks.
Angle/Guerrero, much to the contrary of the two people watching with me, was the bomb shit. It really should have been longer (same with the rest of the undercard), but I LOVED it.
That crowd was, as Homestar would say, weyod. I was waiting for someone with a goatee and beak to start blurting "BIZAAAAARO!"
JBL/Taker was better than expected. Especially seeing the end (I thought JBL's feet really did go THROUGH the windshield, not just shatter it).
And the three-way took the formula to its logical conclusion... can we just get Three Way Dances instead? I know this way can be more dramatic, but YEEEARGH at least try to look like you can have three guys wrestling each other, not just a match with three people.
Big problem? Endings coming WAY out of nowhere. I think the best matches at avoiding this? Angle/Guerrero and, to a lesser extent, Eugene/HHH (although the crowd forced them into some weird-ass situations).
Their reaction as soon as Orton won? "Yeah, this was about Lesnar." At least give Orton some credit... let's see if he can run with the ball now that he's got it.
DEAN's Nuggets of Wisdom:
"I don't want him to die. I just want him to NEED my PEE." (as seen here)
Originally posted by KawshenI'm poking around the other message boards and it looks like a good number of people are blaming the Toronto crowd for its apathy and smarkiness for bringing this show down. I don't really disagree with that either.
Wade Keller on The Torch said exactly what I was thinking during all the "face booing":
"It’s rare that this many fans during a WWE PPV have gotten so into going against the grain in their reactions throughout an entire WWE PPV. Toronto can expect to have Smackdown tapings from now on, but not anything live if they don't learn to behave and react how Vince McMahon wants them to."
"This just got a hell of a lot better." - Stifler, American Pie
I am not going to slag a show that featured 4 good to great matches (Benoit/Orton being the best followed by Eddie/Kurt). Those matches were more than I could have hoped for.
Nick Dinsmore should be commended for coming through with his character. The crowd may have turned on him, but he still went fullboard and held his end with HHH.
That crowd sucked. I am somewhat of a smarky guy, but I would still cheer loudly for guys I liked. They just mostly sat on their hands, except for the heel backers. I hope they enjoyed paying good money to look like jackasses.
Joe Wilson (looking at Interocitor manual)- Hey, here's something my wife could use in the house... Crow T. Robot- A man? Joe Wilson- An interocitor incorporating an electron sorter. Cal Meechum- Oh, she'd probably gain 20 pounds while it did all the work for her. Tom Servo- Cal, you bitch!
Didn't want to pay money for this show, saw it for free. Still want a refund.
Look, we all knew Orton would go over, despite any viable reason for that to happen so soon. The strongest argument from his camp was "he's getting better", which hardly screams accolade.
What I never imagined is that they would bury Chris Benoit in the process of putting Orton over. Heels cheat to win, maybe not against mid-level babies but always against top faces. A heel that can beat on top face on pure ability leads to a terrible, depressing atmosphere.
From another thread...
Originally posted by darkmatcherAnd it doesn't hurt that I can already predict the damn match. They'll put Randy in the match carrying position just to piss me off, i.e. dragged out "methodical" beatdown(UPPERCUTS and CHINLOCKS!) until Benoit comes back with his GERMANS and HEADBUTT and a million failed Crossface attempts that super Randy breaks out of to make the pin with his lame-assed "out of nowhere!" RKO to the turning sound of my stomach. Sadly, some WILL view this as a ****-***** star effort due to the apparent chinlock infatuation(because he growls and looks like he's having a seizure when he applies them!!)and the belief that Benoit's repetitive routine is the equivalent of his pre-2002 stuff.(And down goes my rating!)
This was exactly what happened, save for a couple sickening spots that made me fear for Benoit's life. First spot was the tope into the barrier. Absolutely disgusting, and Benoit should have done out into the aisle and saved himself the trauma. The second was when Benoit goes for the swandive headbutt and Orton raises his boots and kicks him in the face. Please don't tell me that was "innovative" it was blatantly risky with someone who has a bad neck and Orton should not have done it.
But none of this is worse than Orton winning clean with his finisher and then getting congratulated by Benoit. They completely sodomized Benoit tonight, it still amazes me that they did so little with any regard whatsoever to his perception. He has never looked like more a jobber than he did tonight. He wasn't nearly established enough to be able to survive a job like that, in the case of a Rock or a Hogan or a Taker. And Orton is not over or good enough that anyone would say, well, it's ORTON for God's sake, what could we expect? It was just terrible, terrible booking.
They were so eager to put Orton over they didn't give a moment's thought to Benoit. Eddy jobbed, and he looked strong doing it. Hell, Benoit jobbed and looked strong doing that back when Angle tapped him out a couple Rumbles ago. But this was just destruction.
It didn't help that no other faces won, except Cena and tweener Edge. That's a poor choice for a major show like this, I think. For your little worthless single brand throwaway, fine, heel out. The matches weren't too bad, but this is the most nihlistic, depressing booking I've ever seen in my life.
Hot Virgins-The World's Most Steadily Shrinking Commodity
Yeah, WWE certainly seemed quite desperate to make sure the “youngest champion ever” was a member of their active roster, eh? Just watch-- if Randy Orton leaves in the next few months, WWE will sign my 19-year-old sister and have her win the World Title.
I keed, I keed!
“Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?” “Ah, if there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.”
--Janine and Winston, Ghostbusters
Two-Time Wiener of the Day (5/27/02; 7/3/02)
Certified RFMC Member-- Ask To See My Credentials!
Originally posted by HMDDidn't want to pay money for this show, saw it for free. Still want a refund.
Look, we all knew Orton would go over, despite any viable reason for that to happen so soon. The strongest argument from his camp was "he's getting better", which hardly screams accolade.
What I never imagined is that they would bury Chris Benoit in the process of putting Orton over. Heels cheat to win, maybe not against mid-level babies but always against top faces. A heel that can beat on top face on pure ability leads to a terrible, depressing atmosphere.
Randy Orton is turning face. It doesn't hurt Benoit to lose like a man in a great match and put the other guy over. It will if he goes to losing to Batista in the opener but wait and see what happens.
The purpose of Benoit's title loss was to make Randy Orton into a Main Eventer and a babyface.
Originally posted by HMDPlease don't tell me that was "innovative" it was blatantly risky with someone who has a bad neck and Orton should not have done it.
You're stretching out on a very thin wire here because I'd bet you that Benoit came up with that spot. Chris Benoit doesn't do anything in the ring that he doesn't approve of or want to do, especially with Randy Orton.
Originally posted by HMDAnd Orton is not over or good enough that anyone would say, well, it's ORTON for God's sake, what could we expect? It was just terrible, terrible booking.
Orton's not over? The Canadian crowd was cheering for him when he beat CHRIS BENOIT.
Insensitive Funny Comment of the Week: "You don't buy prostitutes ... They're human beings! You rent them!" Artie Lange
You know, the babyfaces reigned supreme at the Rumble and WrestleMania. SummerSlam enforces evil to build for next year's Mania. They did the same last year, and the year before, and the year before...
Big deal. I loved the crowd's reactions. When this sorta thing happens, the wrestlers should be trained well enough to work with it. Unpredictablity is what often can make wrestling more interesting at times, and it's all a matter of opinion. If the wrestlers can't change the crowd reaction when it sways the "wrong" way, the fault should fall upon them. They're the performers who should have control over the crowd. If they don't know what to do when the crowd turns on the faces and cheers for the heels - especially when this happens more often than not during WWE televised shows in Canada - then they aren't prepared enough.
That said, I usually get a kick out of such crowd reactions, and I did tonight. Some people are acting like if the crowd cheered and booed for the right people, the PPV would have been one of the best shows of the year. I thought too many of the matches didn't tell a story effectively and ended without proper buildup. From what I could tell, the poor pacing of the majority of tonight's matches had no connection with the crowd. Nor should any wrestling company be depending on the crowd for an event to be a success - and I don't think WWE was tonight. The show just was about average.
Wow, the crowd did their best to ruin this one. All the nonsensical chants and heel cheering CLEARLY threw everyone off. I hope they never go back.
And I also can't believe Benoit jobbed like that. I know they were bigger stars, but guys like Austin and Undertaker, even Rock would have NEVER lost like that. No Evolution? No foreign object?
JBL/Taker was much better than I expected from those two. Again, the crowd screwed it up.
Rest of the card was fine, but this show was just weird.
(edited by asteroidboy on 15.8.04 2328) -- Asteroid Boy
"If you want me to watch the shows, buy tickets when you come to town, buy t-shirts, and pay for a PPV every three days, you bet your ass I'm going to hard to impress. And when you give me stuff that blows and then tell me I don't get a vote on sharing that opinion, I'm going to tell you to go catch an STD." - Hogan's My Dad
"My brother saw the Undertaker walking through an airport." - Rex "Was he no-selling?" - Me
Originally posted by asteroidboyWow, the crowd did their best to ruin this one. All the nonsensical chants and heel cheering CLEARLY threw everyone off. I hope they never go back.
And I also can't believe Benoit jobbed like that. I know they were bigger stars, but guys like Austin and Undertaker, even Rock would have NEVER lost like that.
You mean like at SummerSlam 2002 when the HEEL Brock Lesnar pinned the FACE Rock clean in the middle of the ring after kicking out of all of his finishers?
Insensitive Funny Comment of the Week: "You don't buy prostitutes ... They're human beings! You rent them!" Artie Lange
Fuel, what made him a face? Something has to happen in a storyline to make that official. Being cheered as a heel is not being a face.
I didn't say Orton was over, but he's not the kind of over where he can destroy completely superior wrestlers without raising eyebrows.
ScottChrist, "reigned supreme"? Jericho, Rock, Foley---all huge babyfaces lost. I'll admit the big ones went to babies, but that's how it should be. If you know Orton's winning, do you need JBL and Angle to win? I'd argue Angle needed this one badly, but JBL could have lost it, and won it back on SD!
Or maybe the booking should be done in a fashion that one of the biggest show's of the year does not need to be dominated by heels. In 2003, Angle won the title from Brock. The main went to a heel but a major face won a major match. In 2002, again, a heel won in the main but HBK beat Hunter earlier, another major face with a major win. In 2001 one, a baby won in the main, as well as 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993 and I'll admit to not remembering much before that.
Tonight, four matches in a row, the final 90 minutes of the show were won by heels. 1 and 1/2 babyfaces won. That's a first. And it blew.
(edited by Hogan's My Dad on 15.8.04 2136) Hot Virgins-The World's Most Steadily Shrinking Commodity
Thread ahead: Undertaker and Edge upset backstage after matches Next thread: Former WCW Wrestler on New Survivor Previous thread: John "Earthquake" Tenta give 13-18 months to live
Thread rated: 4.60
#
#
