Royal Rumble Preview

Tonight it's the Royal Rumble. I'll stop a little short of saying the Rumble is my Favourite Pay Per View (though I have said that before) because Wrestlemania has such an aura these days. However, it is without a doubt the best concept event ever created, and a highlight of the year.

Say what you like about WWE, but they have done a marvellous job of getting to the turn of the year and making us all believe in "the Road to Wrestlemania". We're all thinking ahead to the big March PPV, and the build to that heightens the importance of this and No Way Out or Elimination Chamber or whatever we are calling it now.

The trouble is with me going into this show is that I start fantasy booking the next three months, and getting way ahead of myself. I've chosen a winner of the Rumble partially based on a storyline I'd like to see, but also as a sort of hedging of bets.

That I'll come to in due course. Let's get a couple of undercard matches out of the way.

ECW Title - Christian v Ezekiel Jackson

I'll be honest, I'm not expecting a classic.

On the one hand here, I'm seeing this as a good opportunity to take the belt away from Christian, since Big Zeke is a credible guy to have beat Christian, possibly with a little assistance from William Regal. I think Christian is destined for bigger things than ECW, is a lock to go to Smackdown in the next draft, and probably ought to be in the Money in the Bank match at Mania.

On the other hand, if you take the belt off of him, the ECW title picture loses instant credibility. People who don't watch ECW will likely have forgotten who Ezekiel Jackson is (He's the big scary black dude who used to be bodyguard for Kendrick, by the way) and with ECW ratings tanking, he might not be the man to have at the helm.

How about a screwy finish to this match? I can see an old fashioned double pin or something leading to the belt being vacated. That's an out for Christian to lose the belt without having to lose a match, and the "new ECW" crowning a new ECW champion. Who that'll be I have no idea.

Prediction: Christian loses the belt, if I'm sitting on the fence. Whether that is clean to Zeke, via interference from Regal or a disputed ending, Christian's run with the belt is up.

Michelle McCool v Mickie James

Every critic, his dog, his nan, his next door neighbour, his next door neighbour's nan, his next door neighbours nan's milkman, and the bloke who the milkman met in the pub the other night all think Michelle is going over because Mickie is in the doghouse. Everybody seems to think this whole angle is shockingly demeaning.

Is it not just a wrestling angle? Is it not just an old fashioned 'heels are bullies' storyline? And is it not finally an angle for the girls to get hold of rather than just shitty number contender matches leading to three minutes every two weeks before the champion beats Alicia Fox or someone in a shockingly crappy match?

Many of you will know that I am a strong critic of Michelle McCool, and I still think she is overrated in the ring. But I'll give her this; she has been very effective as the bitchy girl in school that no-one likes, and they always have a toady little friend sucking up to them too, don't they?

I've enjoyed this storyline a lot, because it's shown strong heel qualities, build up sympathy for a Babyface, and also included other girls. Layla as the sidekick, Maria last week sticking up for Mickie, and a conflicted Beth eventually siding with the heels.

The thing is, though, good storylines need good payoffs. I'm holding out for one here. Mickie MUST win this match. Wrestling, at the end of the day, ought to play out in favour of the babyface at the end. Especially in areas of the show which isn't selling tickets. No-one is buying this show tonight to see what happens to the Women's title, but every match that is on the show, both in episodes and on a PPV, must play it's part as a cog in the wheel. There is an opportunity for a really big babyface moment tonight, for an over female babyface (you don't hear anyone say that very often) to beat a heel who deserves her comeuppance.

Prediction: Mickie James. Please.

Right, back to the point in hand, which is realistically who is going to win the Rumble, and I'll address this here because the winner affects the two title matches.

Royal Rumble Match

*You can go back a couple of posts to see a more detailed (some would argue too detailed) analysis of Royal Rumble contenders.

Basically, I believe there are three contenders, with possible arguments for three others, but weak ones. The three favourites have to be Cena, Michaels and Triple H. The other three are Batista, Punk and DiBiase.

I'll start with the weak ones. Batista is a contender so that he can a) face Mysterio if Rey beats Taker. That would fit with HBK costing Taker the title, either now or at the next PPV, allowing Rey to get the strap. That, though, wouldn't help Rey in particular, and Rey and Batista have enough of an issue that if they want that match at Mania, they can do it anyway. The second way for Batista is that Cena could win the Raw title in the Elimination Chamber, and Batista chooses to face him. I think both matches can be achieved without Batista winning the Rumble, though.

Second weak argument is CM Punk. The man is on a roll right now, and winning a Rumble would give his whiny, self-righteous character more to brag about. It would also fit his character, having won two Money in the Bank matches, to have a title shot through drawing a late number and capitalising on a personal issue between other. Like McCool, Punk now has an effective, heatseeking character who people might just pay to see get beat. The drawback, though, is that he hasn't been given the credibility to hang with the elite tier of WWE (Who I'd say would be Cena, Orton, HBK, Hunter, Taker and probably Edge) and he doesn't have an obvious opponent, although you could again argue the idea of Shawn costing Taker so that Rey has the belt, then go Rey v Punk.

Final weak shout is Ted DiBiase. Although you could argue a case for Cody Rhodes, it's generally assumed that Ted is the longer term prospect as a major player. Personally I don't believe he has the skills to be a top babyface, but then neither did Orton, and he's done ok since he went back to his heelish ways a few years back. DiBiase is only a contender if Orton wins, as DiBiase v Taker, Rey or Sheamus makes no sense. While on one hand it would be very cool for an outsider to win the Rumble, as a prediction it is deeply flawed, because WWE like to have a marquee winner, generally. It probably isn't Ted's time.

The big three all have a good argument for. Shawn Michaels' is rather obvious. He may need to win so that he can wrestle Taker at Mania. And it could well happen. Although it may seem too telegraphed, WWE aren't known for subtlety or nuance, and it certainly would be a popular choice. It'd be fun TV, too, watching Shawn trying to protect Taker's title before Mania. It may be too obvious, but then it might be a double bluff.

John Cena should never be discounted when thought about in conjunction with a big match. His particular route to Mania, should he win the Rumble, could take many forms. Maybe he could swerve us all, including HBK, and go after the Undertaker. They could follow through with this, do Cena v Taker and use it to facilitate the DX break up. What if we came down to the last three, Shawn and Hunter fight, and Cena dumps them both. Cena heads for the Deadman and DX explode at Mania, a la the Mega Powers. I'd absolutely love this outcome, and I think it's what I would book, but it does leave too many other questions, especially re: Sheamus and the WWE title.

Another route could also be Cena choosing Taker, but Shawn costing Taker the Chamber match, and Batista winning, giving us Cena v Batista for the title, Shawn v Taker as a grudge affair and still leaving room for Trips v Sheamus and Orton v Ted. This could lead to a few weeks of teasing various combinations, and also a tense stand off between Shawn and Cena, which could give a really nice Raw main event at some point. Finally, they could simply go Cena v Sheamus for the easy title match. The problem with that is, assuming Shawn v Taker, that you are left with Hunter being a spare wheel, unless he wrestles Batista.

All these combinations are giving me a headache......

Finally, we come to my pick, Triple H. He's my pick because I feel he is due a big win as a single again, and like Cena they can go many ways with him. You could have Hunter declare he wants Taker. I'd love that, as it would really piss off the HBK character and lead, you'd feel, to the inevitable DX break-up, especially if Shawn forces a title change, taking not only the belt from Taker but the Taker match from HHH. Hunter could then have the option to switch to Sheamus or go with the winner of the SD title, which may well be Batista.

Or, they can go the other way, and have Hunter tease going after Taker, but choosing Sheamus, and having the Triple H character say that he is doing it so Shawn can still chase Taker.

Ultimately I'm choosing Hunter over Cena and because I think there is more they can do with Hunter in that position. But it's very open. If any one of them wins there is a multitude of ways they can go in storylines.

You could complain that it's bad that only three out of thirty guys can really win, but I'd argue that some years it's only two, and others only one. At least we have three strong choices.

So then, the title matches.........

Sheamus v Randy Orton

It doesn't really make any sense for Orton to win this. I know it seems obvious to say that Cody/Ted, or just Ted, costs Orton the match, but sometimes obvious = sensible. It keeps the belt on Sheamus, and Sheamus v Hunter or Cena is more sensible than either of those babyfaces against Orton, which we've seen before.

If Ted costs Orton, Randy can go into a chamber to try and get back in the picture, while Ted v Cody can be booked down the card, if Ted makes the break on his own.

Prediction: Sheamus. Because it just makes sense.

Undertaker v Rey Mysterio

There is an issue with the positioning of this match, because if Rey is to win, then it ruins the Rumble for Michaels. If you are booking Rey to go over, then this match has to go on after the Rumble. I don't want that to happen, and I suggest WWE don't either. But if the Rumble isn't on last, expect Rey to win.

I don't think he will though. I think Taker has to win, although I think the match itself will be built around Rey having a million near falls but not quite getting there. Taker winning makes all three of my main picks, Cena, Hunter and Shawn, much more viable options.

Captain's Blog - Stardate January 16, 1995

Let’s wind the clock back, folks. Let’s transport ourselves from this era and remind ourselves of what things were like fourteen years ago.

Ah, it was so very different. For it was the run-up to the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels was the favourite to win, and Bret Hart and William Shatner were about to appear on Raw.

Wait, hang on..........

Anyway, I thought it might be a little bit of fun for us to have a retro review of the last time William Shatner popped up for a guest appearance on Monday Night Raw, direct from The Summit in Houston, Texas.

A little backstory. Captain Kirk had appeared on a talk show segment known as the King’s Court, hosted by none other than Jerry Lawler. This, we should point out, was Lawler as a slimy heel, which is of course when he was at his best, and not being a sycophant who laughs along with Michael Cole every week.

Shatner was talking to the King to promote his new show “Tek Wars” which had a wrestling tie-in because.......well it had no relevance at all, except Tek Wars was to be shown on USA Network straight after Raw. That’s pretty much why that guy from Psych was on this week.

King was a little embarrassing in the sense that he had to say Tek Wars was great, but told Shatner that he must be really impressed to be in the ring with the King. Shatner told King off, and Vince on commentary laughed uproariously.

Shatner pulled an elementary wrist lock on King to shut him up, then as Lawler charged he monkey flipped him. I mean, it wasn’t like we were going to mix Shatner up with Rick Steamboat, but it was impressive, I guess. Bret Hart rushed the ring to raise Shatner’s arm, while Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie (Road Dogg/BG James) emerged to console Lawler. This set up the following week’s Raw match of Bret v Jarrett, which was taped that same evening.

So let’s jump to that week, but rather than delve straight into that feature match, I thought it’d be fun to see the other amazing offerings that the one hour, taped, unopposed Raw was doing in the pre-Nitro era.

We kick off with theme music I don’t remember at all. Just a generic beat and saxophone solo before we hear the music of the Heavenly Bodies in the background. Vince greets us and says it’s two weeks until the Superbowl, but the Royal Rumble is before that. He is joined by broadcast colleague......SHAWN MICHAELS?! Wow, I don’t remember Shawn doing much commentary, but then I guess at this point we in the UK only used to see highlights of Raw on WWF Mania hosted by Todd Pettengill every Saturday Morning. (We’d have Superstars that evening and Wrestling Challenge on the Sunday. Them’s were the days)

Shawn says that William Shatner better watch himself, because Double J might send him to a Galaxy Far Far Away. Who wants to tell him that was Star Wars, not Star Trek?

The Heavenly Bodies are facing 123 Kid and Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly, who had got to the finals of a tag team tournament to find new Tag Team Champions. The Bodies have Jim Cornette with them, and jump the “Cinderella team” as Vince calls them.

Vince is very high-pitched early on, and he and Shawn reflect on the fact that Kid and Holly beat Heavenly Bodies to advance in the tournament. Bodies dominate early on, but my thoughts are on the commentary duo, who not only play the old “heel v face” battle in order for each man to promote each team, but they actually talk solely about these two teams, the match, and the match at the Rumble for Kid and Holly against Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow. No mention of WWE.com (it probably didn’t exist, but you get my point) no plugs for other things on the show. Just proper focus by the commentators. It’s very effective.

After Holly gets killed for about six minutes, 123 comes in and starts fast. The Bodies double team him, go for a double suplex, but while he is in the air Bob Holly takes out Tom Pritchard, and the Kid nails a Northern Lights Suplex to beat Del Ray. Bammer, Tatanka and their manager Ted DiBiase, who have wandered to ringside, look on.

A really, really strong opening segment for its purpose. The match was no better than average, but it was the week before the Rumble and effectively sold the reasons to watch one of the matches on the show in under seven minutes.

Next we go backstage with Bret Hart and William Shatner. Vince asks Bret if he has “ring rust” to which Bret vigourously denies this, saying he is 100%. While he does so, Shatner continually butts in while Bret keeps talking, with statements like “I’ve seen him work”. Thanks, Bill.

Shawn then asks Shatner if he is watching Bret’s back, who is watching Shatner’s. Shatner replies that no-one needs to. That actually makes Bret look less tough than Shatner in a way. He then does a bad does a bad job of threatening The Roadie, calling him Roadkill, before the interview ends and Vine promises us the Monday Night Raw debut of Mantaur. I think he had had several matches on Superstars, though.

After a break, we get mooing, and Mantaur appearing along with Jim Cornette, who apparently was making his first appearance with the Cowman, because Vince sells shock at seeing Jimmy. Mantaur is facing a gentleman with too many consonants in his name.

Vince and Shawn now do stray away from the match, but it’s a little more understandable because they are trying to sell the Rumble match, in which Mantaur is entered. Shawn says it doesn’t matter if he draws number one, which is fortunate, because he did, and he won. Vince basically tells him he won’t win, and plugs The Action Zone. I’d forgotten that show.

Shawn says “a couple of nice wrestling moves......I guess.” As Mantaur just runs into his opponent, knocks him over, falls on him, and pins him.

We then head off to the Royal Rumble report with Todd Pettengill in front of a sunshine graphic. The Rumble was in Tampa that year, I believe. He checks in with Jarrett and the Roadie backstage at the arena for some reason, then gets on with his report.

He says about the Pay Per View that it is from the WWF, “The originator, not the imitator”, whatever that means. He reminds everyone that Pamela Anderson will be the ‘host’ to the Rumble, then talks about the main 30-man match, including a brief rundown of how the match works. They made the Rumble 30-minuntes that year because the talent roster sucked, basically.

Plugging other matches, he mentions Undertaker v IRS, and we get warbling Paul Bearer and Taker threatening Irwin in the usual manner, except the graphic behind them is of a seashore with the tide rolling in. Slightly juxtaposed images there.

Todd bigs up the “Cinderella Story” of 123 and Holly (he got the memo, then) and then says that Diesel v Bret will be awesome. It wasn’t, but it was pretty good until the booked the hell out of it. He concludes by saying that Jeff Jarrett will challenge Razor Ramon for the gold, then starts to ‘interview’ Jeff but is clearly just saying a scripted line and they cut it together in post. Actually, although it’s clearly manufactured and Double J says the usual thing, it is quite cool little exchange.

Onto the match, and we come back after a break with Jarrett in the ring and strutting to his music. Vince thanks the owner of the building for his hospitality, then weakly segues into talking about the match. HBK talks the match up, and indeed Bret’s popularity. The reaction is genuinely massive for him, which is interesting because they will have already seen him in the taping that evening. Bret was unbelievably over back then.

Jarrett stalls early in the match, as Vince speculates as to whether we’ll see Lawler during the match. The story of the match is basically whether Bret has “changed”. He’d been away since the previous Survivor Series when he lost to Bob Backlund and lost his title, and upon his return they had Bret occasionally flouting the rules and being more aggressive. Bret dominates the early stages while working on Jarrett’s arm.

Shawn on commentary, meanwhile, puts Bret over in spades, and alludes to being happy with the Hitman being Diesel. Jarrett gets on top and we got to a break.

On return Double J is on top, while Shatner cheerleads. Bret turns the tables, and Vince says that Shatner is offering “words of encouragement”. The only audible words we hear from Bill are “Take him down” while Jeff is flat on his back. Yeah, doesn’t Bones need you in Sick Bay or something, Kirky?

Bret’s fightback ends when Jarrett blocks the Sharpshooter, and after a little Roadie help, Jarrett has the advantage and locks in the figure 4, but Bret has the ropes. Shortly afterwards, Jarrett rolls Bret up, but is reversed, and Bret gets the three. Roadie comes in and meets a Shatner forearm, gets his head rammed into the turnbuckle and gets thrown over the top. Roadie must be a Romulan or something, Shatner hates him.

That it for that segment, but Raw is nowhere near finished. That’d be a sure-fire main event and closing segment now, but not in ‘95 it seems.

We get an ad break, then a recap of the tag tournament, including clips of Bam Bam and Tatanka beating the Headshrinkers, and Kid and Holly beating the Heavenly Bodies. Another break, and it’s the Kings Court will all of the Million Dollar Man’s Corporation. Hey, King never appeared at all in the Shatner/Bret/Jarrett deal.

DiBiase is announced as the CEO of the Corporation, and he says that for the “mongoloids” who don’t understand, that means Chief Executive Officer. Mongoloids? Really? Really? (/Miz)

By the way, the Corporation at this point appears to be Bam Bam, Tatanka, IRS and Bundy. This is when the Faction idea was very effective with the right leader.It still could be to be honest. DiBiase runs down the Undertaker, and explains why IRS will beat him. Then he praises Bam Bam and Tatanka, saying they’ll easily win the Tag Titles. “It’s a shoo-in” he says. (They lost). DiBiase also explains that his new champions will defend against the Smoking Gunns, who had vacated the title in the first place. Then he explains why Bundy will win the Rumble and go to Wrestlemania.

In five minutes, we got build up for three matches, including the Rumble, a manager putting his stable over, and a plug for a title match on the following week’s Raw. What more can you ask?

Big Mabel is out next, along with his rapping manager Oscar, in full purple babyface mode. For the uninitiated, Mabel is Viscera/Big Daddy V. Mabel squashes Lee Tobin, with the commentary drifting by now to Shawn talking about how awesome he is. Vince and Shawn interview Mabel post-match, with the big guy just generically saying he’ll win. Shawn asks why he’ll win, and Mabel starts talking about being the biggest and the baddest before being interrupted by Bundy. Mabel challenges him, and it’s into the ring they go.

Quick ad featuring Pam Anderson and hype for the Rumble, and we come to Shawn and Vince talking up the Rumble and next week’s Raw. Then a hype video for Diesel? Huh? What happened to Bundy and Mabel?

And that appears to be it. Interesting stuff. I’m not necessarily saying it was better or worse than the modern product. Some differences, some for the better and some for the worse, and fascinating to look at some of the guys who find themselves in prominent positions now (Nash, HBK, Jarrett, Hart, Shatner) and how they’ve developed. Also ought to be noted that this one hour show featured very few of the roster, especially the stars. Bret was wrestling, but IC champ Razor Ramon, top of the card act Lex Luger, The British Bulldog and WWF champ Diesel were all absent apart from mentions and clips. Shawn on commentary actually was a masterstroke for getting character over the week before the biggest night of his career at that point.

Hope you had some fun with this – looking forward to seeing Bret and Shatner again this week, and indeed the Rumble on Sunday.

Raw Thoughts: October 12

· I hated that opening segment, with only a few exceptions.
· The phonecall to Michaels was really quite lame. Not funny, didn’t go anywhere, and even the plug for the book didn’t work.
· The Bragging Rights exposition did not work at all. Not in my mind, anyway. I was under the impression that there would be a bunch of matches on the show and whoever won each match went onto a team for the end of the show. That didn’t resemble what Jericho, the apparent Smackdown captain said. Nor did it sound like what Triple H said, especially when he told Show there were no spaces. If the team is already made up, then surely it doesn’t matter about the winners of the matches?
· I think the only bit I liked was when Jericho said he would fight Bob Barker anytime anyplace. Other than that even Chris couldn’t save this segment.
· The forced infighting between Show and Jericho was ludicrous. Why have Show say they are equals, then say he carries the team? I don’t want to see them wrestle, because at some point I’d like to see a team actually be a team for more than a couple of months.
· Making the match didn’t make sense. How was Triple H, and therefore guest host Nancy O’Dell, able to know that Show and Jericho would a) interrupt him and b) start bickering. She should have come out at that point and made the impromptu match.
· Most of all, I hated Triple H’s little burial of Smackdown. Are you kidding? Smackdown has been superior for a long while now, and I fail to see what business sense it makes for Triple H, a major babyface with influence over the minds of impressionable fans, to bury the show. And to say they have great wrestling, then cite Great Khali, is pathetic.
· I’ll allow the Big Show/Jericho match. At least it looked like a spat rather than a falling out.
· Oh my God, that Divas section was HIDEOUS.
· Goodness knows what Mickie has done to deserve that (although her matches haven’t been great lately). Unless she is injured I guess. The first match was terrible, and Jillian of all people gets a three-minute reign. To make matters worse, guest hosts are now trading, and Melina appears on Raw. To cap it off, Melina and Jillian botch the big move. Credit to them, though, because I’m assuming they called an audible and changed the finish.
· So Cena will face both members of Legacy in a Triple Threat? That would mean if he wins he would be in an iron match AND the seven-on-seven?
· Wait, I got that wrong. Apparently Cena has no real motivation here.
· The only redeeming feature of the triple threat was the finish. I liked Cody sneaking the win by pinning Ted and causing contention, and I liked Randy Orton slithering in and out of the ring. Other than that, it was the usual SuperCena garbage, followed by an announcement of Cena/Orton v Legacy. Just..........what?
· So we get to see Cena AGAIN, Legacy AGAIN......MVP and Swagger are in the ring while I’m typing this bit and....wait, it’s finished. A throwaway match lasting about four minutes. We have to see double Cena and Legacy, all of whom are over. But only a few seconds of MVP and Swagger, who need assistance.
· Kofi and Evan didn’t even get to start on TV? Just add this to the point above.
· As a contrived main event, that was just about passable. I guess the most important thing was that after all the double crossing and second guessing, Ted DiBiase was the one who emerged with the high ground. He pinned Orton with a surprise roll-up in the main event.
· Just an odd show. No logic, and flaws up the yin yang.

Raw Thoughts - 28 Sept

· Oh no, tell me Lillian’s replacement isn’t that drone from Smackdown. Justin Roberts, the man with the random stresses.
· Someone tell those people holding the “Y-2-J” signs they’ve got it the wrong way round.
· Another guest host who I’ve never heard of, but it was very strange after a nice build up from both teams – Jericho/Show, MVP/Henry – that Rev. Al Sharpton got booed. I don’t know who he is that he got booed, but there you go.
· I don’t quite get why you would book these men in a title match just days before a PPV. Makes no sense.
· Reasonable tag match, I guess. Cole announced that Batista and Mysterio will now face Show and Jericho. The problem with having Show with Jericho, although it gives the team a good dynamic, is that matches become slow. Henry, and now Batista, will compound that. I hope Batista and Rey will, so that Jericho can go back to singles action.
· Matches like Mickie v Rosa just show there is very little depth to the Divas division.
· Legacy and DX – good exchange, but dragged a little. I am, though, very much looking forward to their cell match. Their falls count anywhere was really, really good.
· Although I’m fed up of Chavo and Hornswoggle, at least we saw a little development this week. God knows what it means, though.
· If you accept that matches like Bourne and Swagger are going to last three minutes, then that was more than acceptable.
· Gauntlet match was quite dull, really, although come bits of Cena/Jericho perked things up. Cena recovering to best Orton was ludicrous. The whole thing was a setup to lower the cell. I’m not sure why the cell was lowered from a storyline perspective, and it made no sense in a match context, but the reasoning was surely the visual.
· Cena and Orton taking to the top of the cell was spectacular, and WWE will hope that it convinced a few people that ordering a show with Hell in a Cell. I think it will.

Raw Thoughts - September 14

· Really solid opening segment between Batista and Randy Orton. I never really bought the retirement, but I suspect many did. I may be wrong, but I think Batista actually hurt his right arm, not his left one. As I recall they did the attack on Raw on Batista’s left arm, but his was really hurt the other side. So the fact that he had the brace on his left suggested to me it wasn’t needed.
· Was it just me or did Trish seem a bit lost? Maybe I’m being harsh. Interesting note about Barker “nearly making Jericho cry” – a little back reference to Wrestlemania 20?
· OK tag match. I liked seeing Swagger get a pinfall to boost him a little. There was no reaction for Primo at all.
· Mickie James on Alicia Fox: “Every dog has her day”. King quickly asserted that she wasn’t referring to Ms Fox as a dog. She said no. Good job too. The Korean Ms Kim would eat her alive. Ahem.
· Mickie v the Wedding Planner coming soon then.......
· I thought Mickie was great as guest commentator by the way. I like people doing that. I think they should have someone on guest commentary more often, especially newer blood trying help get their character over.
· Nice little seg with Trish being faced in her office by Beth and Jericho. Nice interplay between Jericho and Stratus, although interestingly no namedrop for Captain Charisma, who was instrumental in the ‘break-up’. Nice to see a little nod to history though.
· I hope Trish chooses Santino as her partner! Or at least they have a seg where he is campaigning to be her partner.
· I was really disappointed that HBK v Ted didn’t have a finish, but I guess I understand why.
· Oh wow, Hornswoggle wins again (note sarcasm). Chavo asks “What do I got to do?” Firstly, learn English, Pedro, because it’s “What do I have to do?” but secondly I got the feeling he was addressing that to more than just the little midget fella he’s been wrestling for the last seventeen years or thereabouts.
· I get whole thing of Trish having a win in her hometown, but it strikes me it would have been a big thing for Beth to beat her and use it to have an achievement to boast of, rather than Trish getting a fun, but ultimately fruitless, win.
· Ordinary Batista v Orton match. Actually an ordinary Raw overall. Nothing to write home about, although the initial Batista head fake was quite neat. If someone came up to you tomorrow and asked you what the story was from Raw, what would you say? Batista to Smackdown, and they announced a couple of matches we knew were happening anyway for HiaC.

Unforgiv.....dah, I mean Breaking Point Preview

Haven't a lot of time today, so very little intro, straight on with predictions.

Oh, but before I do, a reminder that I will be following the action with my usual live blog, if you'd like to stop by and read my ongoing thoughts on the PPV.

Singapore Cane Match - Kane v Great Khali
No, this is not a submission match, as many have pointed out, but I'll point out at this stage that most of the hype for the event has stated that 'main event matches' will be submissions based. Not the whole card.

Anyway, from what I gather, the Singapore Cane match basically means a normal match but the cane is legal, and I would think it will be suspended on a pole in the corner of the ring.

WWE had the sense to only give this match a short amount of time on the last PPV, perhaps sensing each man's lack of mobility.

Prediction: Khali. I'm going with the big Indian to even the score after Kane won at Summerslam

Kofi Kingston v The Miz
This kind of match might suggest that there is a lack of long term planning in WWE right now, since it comes from Raw, but was not even promoted or announced on Monday's show. On the other hand, perhaps we ought to cut a little slack, because this match is ostensibly replacing John Morrison v Dolph Ziggler, which is in turn replacing Rey Mysterio v Dolph Ziggler.

I think the Miz will win here. I like Kofi, and I think WWE are high on him, but his limitation is his ability to vocalise his part in a feud. He is over by virtue of being a babyface in the early 90s mould. Smiley, wearing bright ring gear and executing flashy moves, Kofi would have been over fifteen or twenty years ago. However, the fact that his is a Ghanaian portraying a Jamaican and an unconvincing accent holds him back. He gets no interview time, and it is hard for him to generate a long term feud with anyone.

Miz, however, is the opposite for the most part. A heel for the new millenium, he is cocky, spouts modern buzzwords verbosely and rubs people up the wrong way with words and not action. His wrestling, though, has improved greatly. He makes more sense as a United States Champion.

Prediction - He might do so by way of cheating, but I'd expect Miz to win gold tonight


Mark Henry and MVP v Big Show and Chris Jericho
A couple of interesting notes by way of WWE.com. Firstly, in talking about Jericho and Show's opponents, the site says that they beat Rhodes and DiBiase, but then refers to Cryme Tyme as "younger opponents". Hmm.

Secondly, and more importantly, I can't see a reference to this match being a submission encounter. If it is, it'll be interesting to see how they work the stipulation in. Jericho obviously has the Boston Crab varient we are all familiar with, and Show has been known to use a take on the Camel Clutch.

Henry due to his size and power could probably be effective with a submission hold, but MVP doesn't have a recognised hold in this ilk. I'm suprised, if this is a submission match, that they haven't attempted to build something.

If this is not a submission match, then it says a lot about the tag titles (even unified Tag titles) if they are not considered to be part of a main event set of matches, especially considering the prestige of the current champions.

I can't see MVP and Henry winning, with or without this being a submission match. It doesn't make sense to me, unless they decide to go with Jericho as a prospect for a World Title challenge. This wouldn't make a great deal of sense, because by rights he ought to go back to Smackdown, and it appears that Taker and Punk are set for the next month or two.

Prediction - Jericho and Show to retain

Christian v William Regal.....finally
The match that I was most looking forward to last time now occurs at Breaking Point. I considered this a blessing in disguise at one point, since a submission match seemed right up Regal's alley. But once again I can see no reference to that stip being upheld in this one. It seems ECW is considered a 'World title' but not a 'main event'.

The match ought to be good though. Just let the men wrestle for 12-15 minutes and then work the finish. As long as they don't constanly feature Jackson and Koslov I'll be happy. Use them a bit, possibly, but not overkill. I wouldn't be surprised to see one or both interject early, and then one of two things to happen. Either they are sent to the back, much to Regal's consternation, or two babyfaces, perhaps Dreamer and Reks, emerge to sit in Christian corner.

I think there is a real possibility of a title switch. Regal has all the momentum in ECW right now, and it would make sense to have babyfaces fighting the smug champion rather than the three-strong group being made to look like fools.

Prediction - Regal, probably with a little help from his big friends

Triple H and Shawn Michaels v Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
Here is the big question: Are Cody and Ted hurt by not beating DX? Are their careers elevated solely by working with these two (go on, say it) legends or are they made to look small time?

I personally think that in the last couple of weeks they've come over quite well. Perception is the key here, not fact. Because, well, fact isn't fact in wrestling, is it? It's about making the audience believe that Cody and Ted are equals, or at least stand a chance. I can't speak for the world and say whether this has happened or not, but it strikes me that their characters have built nicely in the last few episodes of Raw.

Will they win tonight? Possibly. Maybe not, but possibly. If I was forced to wager money then the safe bet is always Triple H, but I smell an exchange win to lead to the structure known as Hell in a Cell. (hold that thought, back to it later)

I'm interested in the stipulation. That this is a Falls Count Anywhere submission match, and their little brawl on TV, suggest to me they will explore the arena a little tonight. If they do so, perhaps there is scope for others to get involved. Perhaps Orton helps his proteges - or perhaps Brett DiBiase shows up and helps - getting initiated to Legacy the following night on Raw.

Prediction - Going deliberately against the grain, I'll take Legacy for the upset

John Cena v Randy Orton (WWE Title)
There are two major aspects to this which heavily point to Cena coming away with the belt. One is that any interference on Orton's behalf would lead to him being stripped of the title, and the other is the nature of the I Quit Match.

The loser has to, as far as I am aware, say the words "I Quit" into a microphone. Cena isn't going to do that just to Orton. The only way I can possibly see Cena not winning is if somehow he does the Austin-Bret pass-out-rather-than-tap-out finish, but even then that means Orton has dominated him.

Tonight has to be Cena's night. Although logic suggests to me a heel keeping the belt because of all the challengers being babyface, I can't see how Orton comes out of this match with a win that doesn't hurt Cena. Hey, I'm not saying Orton shouldn't win - why shouldn't he show he is a great wrestler, a nasty heel and get the win? - but tonight has to be Cena's night. And he, despite his detractors, deserves it too.

Prediction - JC all the way.

And another thing.........The next PPV is Hell in a Cell, right? Here's a thought - Orton, DiBiase and Rhodes v Triple H, Michaels and Cena. If you are going to have a HiaC themed show, I think it is a stretch to have two one-on-one Cell matches, and you'd think Punk v Taker was nailed on for the SD main event. Would be an idea to have a six man on the either side of the bill.

You could take this in many directions. One would be for Cena to cost DX the match and them to get pissed off at him, leading to either Shawn or Hunter getting the next shot at him. You could even throw in some sort of "If DX wins, Legacy disbands" and vice versa stipulation to the mix.

CM Punk v The Undertaker (World Title)
This is a little similar to Cena in a way. Would they really put Punk over Taker cleanly?

I'm not looking forward to this as much as I'd like to, because I think they'll either just limply end Punk's reign by him losing to Taker as normal, or they'll have Punk somehow obliterate Taker with help, chairshots or something, because I simply cannot see Undertaker ever losing a submission match. It doesn't scan.

Prediction - short and sweet. Taker wins. Punk taps. Yet another new champion.

Enjoy the show, folks. Come back for the live blog.

Two Brief Summerslam Build-up notes

Two things I wanted to bring to your attention:

1) Various reports are suggesting that DX v Legacy will headline tonights Summerslam, perhaps because they don't want the sour note of Punk going over Hardy.

But how about my suggestion that HBK turns on Triple H? (Read more in the preview below) If you follow that logic and they end with the most newsworthy item on the agenda, that may be a big hook for Raw. Add in Mayweather hosting and Vegas and then could post a big number tomorrow night for the Red Brand.

2) The WWE.com site has a caption talking about a wrestler by the name of Christ Masters.

Please select your punchline. Is it:
a) fans see him emerging and say "Oh, Christ.....masters."
or perhaps
b)We should bring back Carlito's old bodyguard and team him with Masters. "Ladies and Gentleman, weighing in at a combined weight of 627lbs, JESUS CHRIST".

They make a startling babyface in peril comeback, but it takes three days.

Raw Thoughts - July 6

· Ah, it’s good to see the Million Dollar Man again. Its presumably his choice, but you wonder why he didn’t stick on for longer. Wrestling misses managers like him.
· They need to do the slow burn with DiBiase jnr – they need to be careful pushing his babyface side TOO much.
· Interesting booking for tag titles at next PPV. Heel v Heel, Legacy v Edge/Jericho. Of course, that won’t happen, because of Edge’s injury, but strange they’d book that kind of contest
· Bah – this is why I don’t like taped Raws. This bloody piped in cheers for people. IF THEY ARE NOT OVER, YOU ARE PUSHING THEM WRONG, OR WE DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM. DON’T PRETEND THEY ARE BEING CHEERED.
· Now that is what you call a sudden and vicious heel turn. Loved it. Believable anger from Carlito and I like Primo trying cover up rather than fight his brother. I’d expect this break-up to take a while longer yet.
· I love that Ted Snr plays up disliking Dusty. Nice little callback to the polka dots too.
· That match (Orton v DiBiase jnr) was the match John Cena and The Miz should have had. Maybe not with so many babyface-like spots for Miz, but certainly the extra nearfalls and moments when there was a prospect of the underdog getting the W.
· Nice little segment – the VIP Lounge. Those talk show segs are supposed to help people’s characters get over. That was one of the better babyface reactions for MVP in a while, and it was a chance to allow a new audience to see Jack Swagger, especially after his odd debut last week.
· Enjoyed that Bourne v Kofi match, but two problems with it. One was that Kofi doesn’t really need to be getting beat. Two was that it was too short. The amount of reruns, recaps and other needless bits that take ages, you could let them have three more minutes and have some fun with the match.
· I think Big Show is getting ‘X-Pac heat’ now. To me, crowds are booing him because he is boring not because he is an effective heel. He has always been slow, but he used to be menacing. Now, he is a slower version of the same giant we saw ten years ago.
· Is there no Miz at all this week? Nor Santino?
· I tell you what, say what you like about Hunter and Cena (and I have done) but they had a reasonable match there, and you’ll do well to find too many other wrestler sin the company who could have a match on Raw and get the crowd cheering and booing mere punches.
· That ending would be understandable and perfectly sensible booking.......if it didn’t happen EVERY BLOODY WEEK. I am so sick of them protecting guys in ridiculous ways. Just book the triple threat. Don’t come up with daft ways of doing it with crappy finishes. Just book the triple threat. I tell you what, have Batista book Hunter v Orton for the PPV. Then have Million Dollar Man get pissed off by Hunter, so he puts Cena in there too. Next week’s guest host could then get Hunter and Cena to pick each other’s opponent, or better yet get Randy to pick their opponents and if either man loses their match they lose their place in the match against Orton. If both lose, Orton gets the night off.
· The trouble is, if you keep booking matches like Hunter v Cena, and just spoil the ending (don’t forget this is frequently happening at PPVs too) then people will just get fed up.
· “Hey man, did you hear about the main event on Raw this week? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Are you going to tune in?”“Nah, don’t think I’ll bother. Those matches always end in DQs and shit. I’ll read the reports on TheSun.co.uk/wrestling instead.” (cheap pop)

Raw Thoughts - May 18

· Judgment day was good, Cole, but it was “at times miraculous”? What?
· So Mickie pins the champ one-on-one, then in a tag match, but isn’t number one contender? Seems a bit harsh.
· Hopefully they’ll take the battle royal outcome to conclusion at Extreme Rules. Fancy seeing Kelly Kelly in a hardcore match?
· Nice to see Santino given a plausible match but still not make Chavo look too stupid. Hopefully they can build this for him
· I like that – Josh inferring to Matt Hardy that Matt did Vickie a favour and helped Edge. Wahey! Logic!
· Excellent – Goldust and Hornswoggle as a duo – hopefully mostly on ECW.
· That’s taken Miz back a couple of weeks. He was doing great as a cutting edge antagonist, but a lame rap does not help his cause in the slightest.
· Big Show and Cena in a submission match is another nice logical progression from Cena struggling to procure the STF at Judgment Day.
· Matt needs a change of music. His “Ohh Ye-eah” start still draws a cheer.
· If I’m going to pick Cole up on every little thing, only fair I do it to JR. Matt’s injury is a metacarpal, not a metatarsal, as Ross said. The first is the hand, the latter the foot.
· Two things I’ll give credit for in that Vickie/Santina segment. The first was that Santino had two little patches picked up from shaving. That’s beyond subtle – good work. The other is that Regal came out unannounced and we don’t know why. I like when unexpected and unknown things happen. They should happen regularly and make you tune in week to week to find out the reason.
· Aren’t WWE having some problems with a venue because of a Basketball fixture clash? Presumably Vince is unhappy, hence the multiple negative references to Denver Nuggets on the show.
· That was a very good main event for lots of reasons
· Firstly, I liked the chaos of it. I hate how much the current Raw product looks like it’s so clinical, but this was an old-fashioned (well, Attitude Era) main event where stuff was happening all over the place. Cena and Show up the ramp, confusion about the legal man, then a Flair run in. I like how the camera didn’t pick it straight up, then Cody fell into the frame. I thought Cena had returned. The commentators also didn’t pick up on it straight away. While that’s silly because they can see the ramp, it was effective.
· The match itself was plenty good enough. Standard heel domination (but then they should, they have one more man) and babyface in peril stuff, done well to keep an otherwise quiet crowd lively.
· Next, the Flair involvement, throughout the show, worked nicely to create a minor conflict between him and Batista and then resolve it. Also, his involvement in the finish means there is a nice plug for his involvement next week.
· I also like the way that essentially Cena abandoned Batista. Dave can argue Cena let him down and Flair had to bail him out. Cena can respond that he helped him out earlier on when Batista and Flair were getting their ass kicked. Both men would be right. Doing this would be perfect because there could be a slow build for when they wrestle again – the first time was simply too rushed.
· Overall, below average show until the end. Really good main event and top ending.

Backlash Preview

Backlash. The latest WWE Pay Per View. Read about it on WWE.com backslash backlash.

Or, indeed, read about it here, as you have chosen to do. I have had a few of you write to me and ask why I haven’t been updating so much of late. I apologise, but my schedule has been mad as of late. I’ve hardly been home and working on the read means I don’t get many chances to Blog. Will try to rectify this situation.

By the way, I would blog with more frequency but I have a slight problem. Because I write about wrestling professionally, when I think of an idea I want to write about I pitch it to write on a website or magazine. (www.thesun.co.uk/wrestling or Fighting Spirit Magazine available from WHSmith and precious few other bloody stockists) To this end, if you want to throw me a question down the line I’d be happy to give you an answer on the blog. Email rob the green at hotmail dot com, changing the format as appropriate. (I get a shitload of spam, don’t want to add to it by typing my email address too often.)

By way of a final piece of housekeeping, I’ll be back live tonight for Backlash to give my usual live blog, which is updated far more regularly and quicker than any other live wrestling blog. That is a scientific fact (Disclaimer, may not be a fact.)

Onto the Pay per View then, and I feel myself saying the thing that so often comes from my keyboard on PPV days. The card doesn’t look that appetising, but WWE have come up trumps so many times in the last two years or so on PPV. The (longest running) weekly (episodic) TV might not be up to much, but the big shows (not Paul Wight) tend to deliver.

Tonight is a test (Not Andr.....leave it) though. No Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Kofi, Miz or Morrison, no Colons, no MVP Shelton or Umaga. The main event is a flimsy six man and the hype for the show features a rematch of a bout which was poor, had a twice filmed ending and lasted three minutes on Monday (Kane and CM Punk) and a segment about a man in drag kissing a 7ft4 Indian bloke. Hmmm.

CM Punk v Kane

We’ll start here, as it is such an odd choice of match. I like both of these guys – one for their wrestling, one for their character, and I’ll let you guess which is which – but was live in London for their match on Monday and it was poor. It was sloppy, with a botched ending, and the timing (maybe 3-4 minutes) they were given was horrifically short.

Even worse, Punk won cleanly, so why are we supposed to care about them having a rematch?

I have a horrible feeling about this, which I hope I might be wrong about. How about Kane beats Punk but Punk cashes in Money in the Bank? Punk is then champ with Edge and/or Cena demanding a rematch, and Kane arguing that because he beat Punk he ought to be number one contender. Could happen.

Prediction: Officially Kane to win. If the full scenario plays out then I get bonus points.


Santino/Santina/Khali kiss cam
I know this isn’t a match, so I can’t count it as a prediction really, but I wanted to offer an explanation as to why it’s on PPV. I can see the major blow up of Santino and Beth here. I can’t give a full picture as I can’t think how I’d do it, but I can see Beth interjecting and somehow (maybe on Raw) Rosa ends up siding with Santino. Their problem in all this might be how people end up post-angle. I think they’d want Rosa and Santino to be a heel couple with a Beth face turn, but the people will cheer for Santino no matter what.

I’m saying something major (well, major in context) may well happen since they’ve bumped this to PPV from regular TV.


Matt Hardy v Jeff Hardy – I Quit match
Until I read rumours of Jeff Hardy leaving I would have had him down as a banker winner. Now, I’m not so sure.

I still think Jeff could be pushed in a major way. If he leaves, he gets a big send off and the stage is set for if and when he returns. If he doesn’t leave, then all the better. The fear will likely be that he takes time off for burnout then goes to TNA (it’s happened before) so the more likely explanation is that Matt gets the stronger push out of this feud.

It’s likely to end here, I would think, especially with the two brother being on separate brands now. I feel for Matt a bit, and like Kennedy and Mysterio before him he may get lost in the Raw shuffle a little.

The scenario I envisage here is a rehash of the Bret Hart v Steve Austin match as Wrestlemania. You can put Matt Hardy over his brother one more time, but rather than uttering the words I Quit, Jeff simply cannot continue. He overcomes all odds to make sure he does not give in, but it’s someone else’s decision to stop the match. As long as Ken Shamrock doesn’t guest ref this, then we’re cool.

Prediction: Matt to win, but Jeff not to say “I Quit”


Chris Jericho v Ricky Steamboat

I can’t decide whether to be excited about this or not. It’s basically a filler match and a small capitalisation on Steamboat’s surprise (to some) success at Wrestlemania weekend. As someone who was there, the adulation of Ricky at Raw the night after Mania was truly special. I was chanting “You’ve still got it” for days.

I’m not to keen on this match, as like the words to that song they played for Ric Flair said “Leave the memories alone.” Steamboat could be remembered for his last two matches being a beautiful surprise, and not a B-show filler match.

I’d still expect this to be good. We’ve seen how Steamboat really does still have it and Jericho might be the best about at the moment, so this’ll likely be fun.

Prediction: Jericho to win, and possibly a nefarious act post-match to keep his heat sky-high and put The Dragon out of the picture.


Jack Swagger v Christian (ECW Title)

I’m not confident of predictions on any of the title matches tonight. This one included. Most of me says Swagger to retain. Partly because of them seemingly wanting to hold back Christian, partly because the internal reaction to Swagger v Cena two weeks ago was said to be very positive.

However, there are some Christian pointers. Someone, somewhere must have noted that Christian got by far the best reaction in Money in the Bank. If you are not going to give him the ECW title, why leave him on the brand in the draft? And this match has been done before on PPV, with Swagger winning. It seems to achieve nothing if the former Mr Cage is simply beaten again.

Prediction: I’m going to for the old guess you one you don’t want to win, so if you are right you get a point, if you are wrong you are happy about the outcome. Swagger to win, and I hope I’m wrong.



Edge v John Cena (Last Man Standing match, World Title)

Well there are three theories, and all stem from two obvious points. Those points are that Cena will be off House shows soon because he is shooting a movie, while Smackdown is shockingly without a World Title.

So, either they do the logical thing which is Edge wins and take the title to SD, or they have Cena win to swerve everybody, or they do either of the above and have Punk come in and steal the title like he did last year.

Going on the Punk theory for a second, that can work two ways, because it could be used to give Cena an excuse for dropping the belt. However, that makes little sense, because a) he’d then a) be mad at a guy on a different brand and b) would deprive us of the logical Edge v Punk feud. And Edge v Punk feud which would be more intense because Edge would be doubly mad since Punk cashed in last year MITB briefcase against him too.

The most likely thing, I think, is that a dirty rotten heel from Raw (maybe Jericho) helps Edge to victory, giving Cena both a reason for losing and a ready made feud on Raw while the title picture continues to revolve around Triple H.

I’ll offer this up, as something that I would do. I’d end the show with this match (already you know this isn’t going to happen since the build up is all about the Game) and have Edge win out in a really close one. Maybe both guys are counted out to nine and Vickie appears to throw water over Edge or something. Anyway, Edge wins, and Punk’s music hits. One of two things happens. Either Edge runs away and Punk can’t catch him, or Punk is just appearing to scare the shit out of the new champion, and the paranoid Edge character continues for a few weeks with Punk hovering and waiting to pounce.

Prediction: I’ll take the straightforward Edge title switch, for sensible reasons, and assume that he gets some help from somewhere. Would be wonderful to see post-match Punk, but no impromptu title match, just a build for the future. It’d make me watch Smackdown, that’s all I’m saying.


Triple H, Batista and Shane v Legacy

Even though I predicted this long before it played out on TV (obviously with Vince instead of Big Dave) I don’t want to see it. I hate the stipulation of someone other than the champion being pinned and there being a title switch, and I hate the fact that bloody Vince and Shane are powerless over Vickie to block this match. And what is Vickie’s motivation anyway?

That aside, looking at where the match goes, well it goes one of four ways, but with all but one leading to the same conclusion.

I foresee a Triple H and Batista rivalry, folks, and I see it being started tonight. So, either Batista gets pinned and Triple H is pissed off with him, Batista wins the match for Trips and later accuses his former Evolution chum of being ungrateful or Batista turns on his partners and wins the title for Randy.

The fourth scenario is that Shane is beaten costing Trips the title, but I don’t really see where that leads post Backlash. I suppose a further scenario is that Shane turns on his partners but that makes even less sense.

I like the Batista-loses-Trips’-belt angle the best. I think that’s the most likely, because there are logistics for two programmes then. The first leads a triple threat match between Triple H, Batista and Orton, which Orton wins after the other two beat the crap out of each other. Then, Orton can go his own way with the title while Trips and Dave face off, maybe at Summerslam.

Prediction: Triple H to pin someone and retain. I know that contradicts everything I’ve just said, and isn’t even in the list of about six scenarios I gave, but I don’t care. Logically, everything goes out of the window, and Triple H wins. That’s how things usually work.

Enjoy the show everybody, remember to keeping logging in during the PPV and I’ll keep you updated with my thoughts. Feel free to email in too. Robthegreen, followed by an at sign, with a hotmail, a dot and a com to follow.

Raw Thoughts December 15

· Re: the open, I love that kind of Raw segment. Not the divas match, but the aftermath. I know it didn’t really achieve much right now, but it’s intrigue. As long as it’s not just random stuff being thrown against the wall, I’m ok with it.
· Score one for me. I said months ago that “Deuce” would be a part of the second gen stable.
· People wonder why Duggan is still around. One reason is that people shouting “hooooo” creates a good atmosphere. You saw the other reason in this show. He can draw sympathy. Easy heat for Jericho, and Duggan just stood there and looked sad.
· Insta-feud time? Kelly tells Kane there is someone she likes and Kane goes after them. Hope she doesn’t say Rey Mysterio.
· Maybe it’s Lawler. That would fit his MO.
· OK, I wasn’t expecting Miz. I was thinking in my head of the babyface roster and had come up with Kofi, so I wasn’t surprised to see Kane. I was surprised to see him drop Mr Mizanin, though. There is interesting history there, if they want to refer to it, since Extreme Exposé, as they were, took a shine to Miz, although Kelly Kelly ended up gravitating towards Balls Mahoney. Or are they suggesting that KK is smart enough to say someone other than her beau to stitch them up?
· Great Tag Title match by the way. And kudos to them for not having Kane interfere midway through and actually allowing there to be a clean ending.
· Isn’t Dolph Ziggler just a mini Randy Orton? I mean, if you are going to be a mini-anyone then Orton isn’t a bad one, but two on the same show? Doesn’t work.
· Did I, or did I not, say on Sunday night that the JBL/HBK segment at Armageddon should have been on Raw? And now it is. Couldn’t they have saved it a night?
· This is why we need a war again. We need wrestling on in two places at once on a Monday. Here in the UK it would make little difference, but it would prevent segments like this taking place. In the old days, all the people that saw that last night would switch over to Nitro. (Or more likely vice versa since you’d imagine Nitro doing that back then)
· So she didn’t say The Miz. Maybe she said The Tazz and Kane misheard it.
· Not a bad main event, and a good way of making The Legacy known as a unit. To me the most interesting element is going to come with DiBiase returning and where he fits in. They just have to be really careful to get the right balance between being aggravating and being boring. They really strut to the ring with no facial expression and walk very slowly. I understand they are being cool and menacing, but many will just say boring.
· Good Raw overall, coming off a strong PPV. I might have thrown in Jeff Hardy in for a little extra pop, but he wasn’t missed. Interesting to see the next two weeks worth of matches offered up as bait for the Christmas period and running into traditionally one of the biggest PPVs in the calendar.

Unforgiven Live Notes

00.57am
Hang on, give me a minute. I’m just booking my holiday. Worksop, Leamington Spa.....it’s all glamour, you know.

01.00am
Ok, here we go. Unforgiven, the PPV with the fake name that brings out the pedant in me. Unforgiven is not a word, dammit. I blame Clint Eastwood. Or whoever was in Unforgiven. I haven’t time to fact check, I’m working.

01.02am
Interesting video focussed a lot of attention on Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Maybe they are going with that as the main event. Which is cool and all, but the impact will be lessened by the fact that last month’s main event wasn’t a title match either.

01.03am
Wow, a genuine PPV first as Todd Grisham is the first voice we hear for Unforgiven. I’m pleased for Grisham and Striker that they have been pretty good in their opening weeks on ECW, and makes ECW feel like the breeding ground for announcers as well as wrestlers.

01.04am
We start with Matt Hardy and The Miz for the first section of the ECW scramble, which as you have probably gathered opens the show. They talk about The Miz being known as a chick magnet, which is where the CM of CM Punk comes from. The CM, contrary to popular belief, does not stand for “Craves Momentum”.

01.08am
We could do with a clock, here, you know folks. The commentators are talking about things happening early, but we don’t know timings.

01.10am
Shortly after Striker name checks Pat Patterson as inventing the scramble concept (presumably five men coming at regular intervals is attractive to him) Miz hits the Reality Check but Matt rolls to the outside. The commentators say how clever that was of Matt to roll away to avoid being pinned. Hang on, if he has enough energy couldn’t he just kick out?

01.11am
On the Nelson it’s Chavo, and within seconds he has rolled Miz to the outside and frog-splashed Matt to gain the first pinfall. I like that, it was a logical pin without making someone looking really weak and emphasised Chavo’s sneaky, Guerrero-patented lying, cheating and stealing.

01.14am
This match is ticking along nicely. Chavo hid a cracking rolling kick which Striker referred to as a Lyger Kick, and Miz hit a cool double cross-body. Matt nails Miz with a Side Effect and picks up a fall. Matt is interim champion.

01.16am
Big Mark (I can’t called him Mizark, can I, because Mike Mizanin is in this match) Henry is next, and the other three gang up but get dominated to begin with, Andre/Big Show style.

01.17am
Henry picks up Chavo and drops him, all of his weight crushing Chavo beneath him. Henry is interim champion. Noticeable that for the three falls so far a different man has been pinned each time.

01.19am
I’m sure it wasn’t intended, but Striker talked about Henry’s X-Factor. Which was a move and faction devised by X-Pac, Sean Waltman. Mizark, as I mentioned earlier, was a nickname for Henry coined by the Nation Parody by DX, and it was Waltman who dressed as Mizark Henry.

01.21am
Finlay, to a big ovation, is next, and is all over Henry. We now have a clock, people.

01.22am
Right, the action is quick but I have lots of points to make. Firstly Finlay clocked Henry twice with the shillelagh, while the ref’s back was turned. Can you get DQ-ed? Surely not.

Finlay and Matt get Henry out of the ring, and Finlay strikes the North Carolinian with the Celtic Cross. Everyone has been champ thus far. Finlay is temporary champ.

01.24am
Not for long, Hardy pins Miz (I think) and is now desperately preventing other pinfalls. Miz has a huge gash on his head from somewhere. This is mayhem.

01.26am
You know what, I loved that. Aside from the huge logic hole of disqualification, that was very entertaining and performed sensible with logic at frequent points. Henry was not pinned at all.

It should be said that the commentators were tremendous. Absolutely superb. They pieced the thing together, and although they had the odd slip which I picked up on, for the most part they kept it moving, and picked up their excitement towards the end. It will be interesting not just to see the contrast of the matches but also the commentary.

The crowd were well into that too, by the way.

01.30am
Their usual rip-off, dah, I mean AT&T text poll, asks whether Vickie Guererro was right to not allow Big Show into the scramble match for Smackdown. Does that mean that he will show up?

01.32am
Cody and Ted’s big adventure continues against the 1980s heel but new millennium babyfaces Cryme Tyme. I miss Repo Man, he would have got on so well with Shad and JTG.

Cole calls Rhodes and DiBiase brash and arrogant. Yeah, because Cryme Tyme as so mellow and modest aren’t they?

Sorry, I’ll leave off the commentators a bit.

01.34am
Early offence by Cryme Tyme, including big Shad sending both opponents outside with a double clothesline, then JTG being propelled in the air by his partner over the top to take out both Ted and Cody. Cody may have genuinely hurt his arm. His bump was odd.

01.44am
Another one goes above expectations. I thought this was a really fun tag match, which moved along really steadily which a neat little finish to it. Hang on a minute.......

01.46am
OK, that was odd. Ted and Cody were getting beaten up post-match but some guy came and saved them. The guy looked like a white Haku, or was Carlito on the Big Daddy V diet. Judging by the fact that he is in developmental and would fit the second generation theme, I would think that it was Afa Jr. I’d think they’d give him a name and just say he’s Afa’s boy, though.

Back to the match, I did really enjoy it. I thought both teams came off looking just that – TEAMS. Good teamwork, good character progression (especially the heels) and a finish which made Cody and Ted bigger heels but didn’t hurt Cryme Tyme.

Just one big fault – what the hell was Cody’s moonsault all about. He didn’t need to do it, logically, in the bout, and sold it like an idiot. Actually elicited a laugh from the audience.

01.50am
Footage of Shawn being taped up before a cool recap of Jericho v Shawn. If you need this recap then where have you been and why are you buying this PPV. Perhaps you are a blogger on Wrestlign who doesn’t do their job properly. (I’ll let you work out who that is)

01.51am
The unsanctioned match is next, and they are explaining it as that both guys have signed agreements stopping each man suing each other or WWE for any injuries and preventing any liability.

Still doesn’t make it unsanctioned, but we’ll let it slide.

I’m guessing this will be followed by the SD scramble, then a short divas interlude before Raw’s title match.

If you’ll excuse me, I may simply watch this one uninterrupted and report back at the end. I’m not a play-by-play guy.

02.27am
I’m frustrated beyond belief. Mostly this was very, very good, bordering on terrific. Mainly, though, I can’t stop thinking about the holes that riddled this performance that for me have blighted it.

Firstly, I want to say that I don’t blame either competitor. Shawn Michaels, an injured man don’t forget, was tremendous. Jericho not far behind. The intensity was off the charts and I actually liked the emotion of Shawn’s which I would normally find to be over the top.

Second, Michaels leaving as the man standing and Jericho down was the right thing to do. HBK needed retribution of some sort otherwise Jericho would be dominating the thing too much.

Lastly, I like the fact that this leaves the room open for this to logically carry on.

My problems.......are many.

Firstly, Lance Cade interfering just watered things down. I’d have liked to seen him either told that if he interfered he’d be suspended or for someone to put him out of commission. More on that in a minute.

Next, the match was supposed to be the culmination of both men’s hate for each other, and something beyond wrestling. The emotion was there for that, but when HBK was in that much peril, holding his eye, with a torn tricep, if we follow things through, wouldn’t Triple H have given Shawn a hand? At two on one, couldn’t Triple H have evened the score. Beyond wrestling, remember. A true friend wouldn’t let their buddy risk his career, his quality of life, like that.

Triple H could have at least taken out Cade, pre-match or during it.

I have many more things I could go into, but the next match is nearly starting and I’m still typing. I will, though, have a huge go at the decision of how to end the match. Lillian, even putting on a little more emotion herself, in the preamble said “this match can only end in pinfall or submission.” And the ref stopped it.

The ref, Marty Elias, actually made an unintentional funny during the match when he asked Cade and Jericho “What are you doing?” Err, trying to hurt the guy, Marty, you idiot.

No-one wanted it to end like, and it just made them all look stupid. Why couldn’t Michaels have suddenly become overcome by the emotion and walked to the back. That would have been far better than the ref going against the ENTIRE POINT of the unsanctioned stipulation. No skin off the ref’s nose if one man gets hurt.

So frustrating. Mostly good, but so flawed at the same time.


02.35am
Let’s catch up. Shelton and Jeff Hardy have started the Smackdown title match. No falls yet. During the break between matches we saw a very, very good backstage bit with Randy Orton meeting Cody, Ted and man we now have confirmed as son of Afa, but it seemed they called him Monya, or something similar. They explained his background.

They faced Orton and said that he now had to be impressed, but he laid into them for being too self congratulatory. I like the feel to this and it’s good to keep Orton involved in this manner.

02.37am
Ok, competitor three is joining in, and it’s Kendrick, along with big Zeke. No action to call as yet.

02.40am
Jeff picks up a pinfall over Kendrick with his new Powerbomb into a faceplant move. I recall it may have Tori’s finisher some years ago.

02.41am
Jeff tried to pin Shelton, and JR commended Hardy’s attitude. Which is doubly idiotic, because Jeff doesn’t get two ahead by getting an extra pin. It’s not an ironman match.

02.42am
Quickly after the above foolishness, Shelton hits paydirt (ridiculous name) but Kendrick breaks up the count. This actually makes sense, because Kendrick can then hit Sliced Bread (I’m not calling it The Kendrick. That’s like Shelton’s finisher being called The Benjamin, or Triple H’s being “The Helmsley”

Anyway, Kendrick is now the interim champion, a term which makes more sense than current champion, but one they seem to have abandoned.

02.45am
MVP entered a couple of minutes ago, and much like the first Scramble things are escalating. More moves being hit, with Kendrick looking particularly good. Impressive for him since this is his first time at this level. If someone had told you six months ago that Brian Kendrick (the artist formerly known as Spanky) would be starring at a PPV in a WWE Title match you’d have laughed and suggested that maybe Paul London would be UFC Heavyweight champion, then.

02.48am
Big reaction for Triple H. On one hand it could be easy to criticise Triple H for coming into this last (I sort of did in my preview) but at least it gave the other guys a chance to shine.

02.49am
With just over four minutes left Triple H pedigrees, and pins, Brian Kendrick. The Game is back in the saddle.

02.51am
With about three minutes to go, Hardy pins MVP after a Twist of Fate, and is Champeen again. Hardy takes too much of a Sliced Brian (I’ve compromised) he was supposed to avoid then gets stitched up by Triple H.

Nice little exchange here, because Triple H beat Kendrick again with a Pedigree, but while he was recovering from his exertions, Jeff hit a Swanton and went back in control.

02.53am
Hardy took Triple H to the outside and hit a plancha, leaving the other three to do an amazing tower of doom spot, initiated by Shelton.

Back in, Hardy cleaned house, hitting another Swanton, but left Triple H to pedigree MVP to get the pin with one second left. Hardy actually did a really clever thing which went unappreciated, which was that he cover Shelton, but the announcers never called it. The theory, as I saw it, was that as soon as Triple H finished his cover Hardy could get his. They didn’t call it though.

02.54am
Great stuff. This was really slow for ten minutes, but perhaps that helps because you get the slow build and the anticipation rises.

Post match Triple H and Jeff Hardy acknowledged how close they were to losing and winning respectively, and shook hands mid ring. Nice touch, except that if the two of them face-off next PPV, we’ll probably get the old ‘respect’ thing for a month and have a cold build up to a match which would be better if they had a spark. Maybe they will, we’ll see.

03.01am
More backstage stuff, and we get a great promo by Michaels which basically confirms that Jericho and he will keep going for a bit yet.

Next, Punk is interviewed by Eve (and was booed a little when he appeared) and the obligatory interruption comes from Orton. Nice to and fro before it’s Ted and ‘Fro.....and Cody, who interject. Yeah, that was a little weak, I’m sorry.

The Tag Champs plus their new buddy beat down Punk, and Kofi comes to help but to no avail. So Kofi can help Punk who he has never acknowledged on TV, but Triple H doesn’t assist Shawn. Ok then.

Orton tees off on Punk’s head with a great kick which the camera caught splendidly, and the heels leave, with Orton telling the other guys that he found those actions truly impressive.

03.05am
Back in the ring, we are several minutes into a very important segment. This audience have to get some refreshments at some point.

Maryse and Michelle are having a snoozefest of sloppy ‘wrestling’, with even a ‘boring’ chant being beyond the audience.

Michelle is so devoid of emotion, talent and charisma there is no reason to support her. Maryse, to her part, is a vaguely decent heel. Can’t wrestle though. Maryse actually wouldn’t be out of place in the Beautiful People in TNA.

03.08am
Michelle wins. Four people cheer.

03.11am
Adamle announces that after Punk was attacked he mightn’t be able to compete. He says he might have to find a suitable replacement.

Soon, Show comes out to offer Adamle his services. By the way, Adamle didn’t say if the title is still on the line if Punk doesn’t compete. It seems that it surely would be, but nothing was confirmed.

Show doesn’t talk long, but asks the fans if he should be in the scramble match. They sheer halfheartedly, and he reacts as though they went bananas. Poo Show. I love the guy, but he’s just doomed to apathy.

03.14am
Vickie is out to berate him, and is interrupted by choir music and a bunch of druids wheeling a huge coffin. Show is pissing himself laughing, which looks like overacting, which suggests SHENANIGANS to me. (I love that word, so I capitalised it.)

His celebratory attitude would work if Vickie looked freaked out, but she doesn’t. One of them has missed the pitch of this, but I don’t know which. Mind you, in indicating to her that she’ll be kicked out he raised a chuckle from me.

03.17am
Taker on the big screen. Threatening Vickie with murder. Well, he got away with killing Edge, apparently, so he might as well go for 2-0.

Show hold Vickie while Taker now approaches. I’m sure Show will nail Taker now, but let’s see. There is just too much hamming going on in the ring for there not to be a swerve. Vickie bolts but Show retrieves her. Is Show now an acolyte or something?

Taker takes an eternity to get to the ring as normal, which must be great news for CM Punk, trying to come to in the back.

03.20am
Look at the time-checks I’m going on this to see how long this is taking. Talk about padding this out.

Taker taking his hat off........

03.22am
Show attacks Taker. Wow, didn’t see that coming (note sarcasm). They just make things so bloody obvious. Show was blatantly hovering and waiting for Taker, and his overacting (both his and Vickie’s overacting, actually) ended up telegraphing this.

03.26am
Show finishes his slow, rather dull, attack on Taker. JR says that if this was a boxing match it would have been stopped. Or, Jim, a wrestling match with no rules. They get stopped too.

Vickie slaps Taker after Show held him, and then spits on him. Big Show leaves with Vickie, and completes the 375th heel turn of his WWE career.

03.28am
Segment ends. That was like 17 minutes.

03.32am
After Regal tells Adamle to look no further than him to replace Punk, we go to the ring for Batista and JBL to start the match. This is going to be an exciting five minutes............

Oh, and they flashed up and went through the rules of the match. Good Lord. You made the rules daft, then made them better, and now you can’t stop telling us. We’ve seen two scramble matches (two very good scramble matches) we know the f’n rules.

03.35am
Match (20 minute duration) starts with 25 minutes of the PPV to go by my watch.

03.42am
Dull, big man stuff so far. Kane chokeslams JBL to become interim champ just before Rey is in next. I make that 8 minutes so far, not ten.

03.45am
Rey has a huge Mohawk, but I can’t tell if it’s a Shannon Moore-like ‘do, or part of his mask outfit. Either way, Kane is owning him right now.

03.47am
No Punk...........it’s Jericho. He is selling the beating, and after a minute hasn’t hit the ring. They are well under time here.

This one has really dragged. They’ve run out of ideas. Many have said that the scramble was a good idea but three was overkill. Spot on, from what I can see.

03.49am
Three minutes on the clock, Jericho hasn’t entered yet. Still Kane as champ as we stand. Rey’s haircut is his own hair. That’s how dull the match is, I’m looking at hairstyles.

03.50am
Two to go, big moves being hit and no falls. Jericho to steal it?

03.51am
Kane gets a two count on Batista. More idiocy. 60 seconds left.

03.52am
It’s over. And our champion is............Chris Jericho. O...........K. What the hell happened there?

I don’t know if I’m happy or not. What I will say is that I like the idea that something huge happens on a PPV and people who didn’t watch go “shoot, I wish I’d seen that.”

I exchanged texts with a mate while that match was ongoing, and we listed Michaels, Christian Cage, Edge, Regal, Show, Kofi, Sid Justice, Rob Van Dam, Randy Orton and even Mike Adamle himself.

Some were legit shouts, many were just us having a joke, but we left out Jericho. I thought Orton looked likely, but in the end it was the Russo swerve – i.e. it was surprising, but made little sense. Why would Adamle select Jericho exactly?

The match was terrible, but I suppose it was never going to be great, and won’t be remembered because the finish will override the memory of the match itself.

Batista looked the most pissed off, so perhaps he is the first in line.

Looking forward to Raw. Lots to explain and clear up. Next PPV in 4 weeks. Should be interesting.


00.57am
Hang on, give me a minute. I’m just booking my holiday. Worksop, Leamington Spa.....it’s all glamour, you know.

01.00am
Ok, here we go. Unforgiven, the PPV with the fake name that brings out the pedant in me. Unforgiven is not a word, dammit. I blame Clint Eastwood. Or whoever was in Unforgiven. I haven’t time to fact check, I’m working.

01.02am
Interesting video focussed a lot of attention on Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Maybe they are going with that as the main event. Which is cool and all, but the impact will be lessened by the fact that last month’s main event wasn’t a title match either.

01.03am
Wow, a genuine PPV first as Todd Grisham is the first voice we hear for Unforgiven. I’m pleased for Grisham and Striker that they have been pretty good in their opening weeks on ECW, and makes ECW feel like the breeding ground for announcers as well as wrestlers.

01.04am
We start with Matt Hardy and The Miz for the first section of the ECW scramble, which as you have probably gathered opens the show. They talk about The Miz being known as a chick magnet, which is where the CM of CM Punk comes from. The CM, contrary to popular belief, does not stand for “Craves Momentum”.

01.08am
We could do with a clock, here, you know folks. The commentators are talking about things happening early, but we don’t know timings.

01.10am
Shortly after Striker name checks Pat Patterson as inventing the scramble concept (presumably five men coming at regular intervals is attractive to him) Miz hits the Reality Check but Matt rolls to the outside. The commentators say how clever that was of Matt to roll away to avoid being pinned. Hang on, if he has enough energy couldn’t he just kick out?

01.11am
On the Nelson it’s Chavo, and within seconds he has rolled Miz to the outside and frog-splashed Matt to gain the first pinfall. I like that, it was a logical pin without making someone looking really weak and emphasised Chavo’s sneaky, Guerrero-patented lying, cheating and stealing.

01.14am
This match is ticking along nicely. Chavo hid a cracking rolling kick which Striker referred to as a Lyger Kick, and Miz hit a cool double cross-body. Matt nails Miz with a Side Effect and picks up a fall. Matt is interim champion.

01.16am
Big Mark (I can’t called him Mizark, can I, because Mike Mizanin is in this match) Henry is next, and the other three gang up but get dominated to begin with, Andre/Big Show style.

01.17am
Henry picks up Chavo and drops him, all of his weight crushing Chavo beneath him. Henry is interim champion. Noticeable that for the three falls so far a different man has been pinned each time.

01.19am
I’m sure it wasn’t intended, but Striker talked about Henry’s X-Factor. Which was a move and faction devised by X-Pac, Sean Waltman. Mizark, as I mentioned earlier, was a nickname for Henry coined by the Nation Parody by DX, and it was Waltman who dressed as Mizark Henry.

01.21am
Finlay, to a big ovation, is next, and is all over Henry. We now have a clock, people.

01.22am
Right, the action is quick but I have lots of points to make. Firstly Finlay clocked Henry twice with the shillelagh, while the ref’s back was turned. Can you get DQ-ed? Surely not.

Finlay and Matt get Henry out of the ring, and Finlay strikes the North Carolinian with the Celtic Cross. Everyone has been champ thus far. Finlay is temporary champ.

01.24am
Not for long, Hardy pins Miz (I think) and is now desperately preventing other pinfalls. Miz has a huge gash on his head from somewhere. This is mayhem.

01.26am
You know what, I loved that. Aside from the huge logic hole of disqualification, that was very entertaining and performed sensible with logic at frequent points. Henry was not pinned at all.

It should be said that the commentators were tremendous. Absolutely superb. They pieced the thing together, and although they had the odd slip which I picked up on, for the most part they kept it moving, and picked up their excitement towards the end. It will be interesting not just to see the contrast of the matches but also the commentary.

The crowd were well into that too, by the way.

01.30am
Their usual rip-off, dah, I mean AT&T text poll, asks whether Vickie Guererro was right to not allow Big Show into the scramble match for Smackdown. Does that mean that he will show up?

01.32am
Cody and Ted’s big adventure continues against the 1980s heel but new millennium babyfaces Cryme Tyme. I miss Repo Man, he would have got on so well with Shad and JTG.

Cole calls Rhodes and DiBiase brash and arrogant. Yeah, because Cryme Tyme as so mellow and modest aren’t they?

Sorry, I’ll leave off the commentators a bit.

01.34am
Early offence by Cryme Tyme, including big Shad sending both opponents outside with a double clothesline, then JTG being propelled in the air by his partner over the top to take out both Ted and Cody. Cody may have genuinely hurt his arm. His bump was odd.

01.44am
Another one goes above expectations. I thought this was a really fun tag match, which moved along really steadily which a neat little finish to it. Hang on a minute.......

01.46am
OK, that was odd. Ted and Cody were getting beaten up post-match but some guy came and saved them. The guy looked like a white Haku, or was Carlito on the Big Daddy V diet. Judging by the fact that he is in developmental and would fit the second generation theme, I would think that it was Afa Jr. I’d think they’d give him a name and just say he’s Afa’s boy, though.

Back to the match, I did really enjoy it. I thought both teams came off looking just that – TEAMS. Good teamwork, good character progression (especially the heels) and a finish which made Cody and Ted bigger heels but didn’t hurt Cryme Tyme.

Just one big fault – what the hell was Cody’s moonsault all about. He didn’t need to do it, logically, in the bout, and sold it like an idiot. Actually elicited a laugh from the audience.

01.50am
Footage of Shawn being taped up before a cool recap of Jericho v Shawn. If you need this recap then where have you been and why are you buying this PPV. Perhaps you are a blogger on Wrestlign who doesn’t do their job properly. (I’ll let you work out who that is)

01.51am
The unsanctioned match is next, and they are explaining it as that both guys have signed agreements stopping each man suing each other or WWE for any injuries and preventing any liability.

Still doesn’t make it unsanctioned, but we’ll let it slide.

I’m guessing this will be followed by the SD scramble, then a short divas interlude before Raw’s title match.

If you’ll excuse me, I may simply watch this one uninterrupted and report back at the end. I’m not a play-by-play guy.

02.27am
I’m frustrated beyond belief. Mostly this was very, very good, bordering on terrific. Mainly, though, I can’t stop thinking about the holes that riddled this performance that for me have blighted it.

Firstly, I want to say that I don’t blame either competitor. Shawn Michaels, an injured man don’t forget, was tremendous. Jericho not far behind. The intensity was off the charts and I actually liked the emotion of Shawn’s which I would normally find to be over the top.

Second, Michaels leaving as the man standing and Jericho down was the right thing to do. HBK needed retribution of some sort otherwise Jericho would be dominating the thing too much.

Lastly, I like the fact that this leaves the room open for this to logically carry on.

My problems.......are many.

Firstly, Lance Cade interfering just watered things down. I’d have liked to seen him either told that if he interfered he’d be suspended or for someone to put him out of commission. More on that in a minute.

Next, the match was supposed to be the culmination of both men’s hate for each other, and something beyond wrestling. The emotion was there for that, but when HBK was in that much peril, holding his eye, with a torn tricep, if we follow things through, wouldn’t Triple H have given Shawn a hand? At two on one, couldn’t Triple H have evened the score. Beyond wrestling, remember. A true friend wouldn’t let their buddy risk his career, his quality of life, like that.

Triple H could have at least taken out Cade, pre-match or during it.

I have many more things I could go into, but the next match is nearly starting and I’m still typing. I will, though, have a huge go at the decision of how to end the match. Lillian, even putting on a little more emotion herself, in the preamble said “this match can only end in pinfall or submission.” And the ref stopped it.

The ref, Marty Elias, actually made an unintentional funny during the match when he asked Cade and Jericho “What are you doing?” Err, trying to hurt the guy, Marty, you idiot.

No-one wanted it to end like, and it just made them all look stupid. Why couldn’t Michaels have suddenly become overcome by the emotion and walked to the back. That would have been far better than the ref going against the ENTIRE POINT of the unsanctioned stipulation. No skin off the ref’s nose if one man gets hurt.

So frustrating. Mostly good, but so flawed at the same time.


02.35am
Let’s catch up. Shelton and Jeff Hardy have started the Smackdown title match. No falls yet. During the break between matches we saw a very, very good backstage bit with Randy Orton meeting Cody, Ted and man we now have confirmed as son of Afa, but it seemed they called him Monya, or something similar. They explained his background.

They faced Orton and said that he now had to be impressed, but he laid into them for being too self congratulatory. I like the feel to this and it’s good to keep Orton involved in this manner.

02.37am
Ok, competitor three is joining in, and it’s Kendrick, along with big Zeke. No action to call as yet.

02.40am
Jeff picks up a pinfall over Kendrick with his new Powerbomb into a faceplant move. I recall it may have Tori’s finisher some years ago.

02.41am
Jeff tried to pin Shelton, and JR commended Hardy’s attitude. Which is doubly idiotic, because Jeff doesn’t get two ahead by getting an extra pin. It’s not an ironman match.

02.42am
Quickly after the above foolishness, Shelton hits paydirt (ridiculous name) but Kendrick breaks up the count. This actually makes sense, because Kendrick can then hit Sliced Bread (I’m not calling it The Kendrick. That’s like Shelton’s finisher being called The Benjamin, or Triple H’s being “The Helmsley”

Anyway, Kendrick is now the interim champion, a term which makes more sense than current champion, but one they seem to have abandoned.

02.45am
MVP entered a couple of minutes ago, and much like the first Scramble things are escalating. More moves being hit, with Kendrick looking particularly good. Impressive for him since this is his first time at this level. If someone had told you six months ago that Brian Kendrick (the artist formerly known as Spanky) would be starring at a PPV in a WWE Title match you’d have laughed and suggested that maybe Paul London would be UFC Heavyweight champion, then.

02.48am
Big reaction for Triple H. On one hand it could be easy to criticise Triple H for coming into this last (I sort of did in my preview) but at least it gave the other guys a chance to shine.

02.49am
With just over four minutes left Triple H pedigrees, and pins, Brian Kendrick. The Game is back in the saddle.

02.51am
With about three minutes to go, Hardy pins MVP after a Twist of Fate, and is Champeen again. Hardy takes too much of a Sliced Brian (I’ve compromised) he was supposed to avoid then gets stitched up by Triple H.

Nice little exchange here, because Triple H beat Kendrick again with a Pedigree, but while he was recovering from his exertions, Jeff hit a Swanton and went back in control.

02.53am
Hardy took Triple H to the outside and hit a plancha, leaving the other three to do an amazing tower of doom spot, initiated by Shelton.

Back in, Hardy cleaned house, hitting another Swanton, but left Triple H to pedigree MVP to get the pin with one second left. Hardy actually did a really clever thing which went unappreciated, which was that he cover Shelton, but the announcers never called it. The theory, as I saw it, was that as soon as Triple H finished his cover Hardy could get his. They didn’t call it though.

02.54am
Great stuff. This was really slow for ten minutes, but perhaps that helps because you get the slow build and the anticipation rises.

Post match Triple H and Jeff Hardy acknowledged how close they were to losing and winning respectively, and shook hands mid ring. Nice touch, except that if the two of them face-off next PPV, we’ll probably get the old ‘respect’ thing for a month and have a cold build up to a match which would be better if they had a spark. Maybe they will, we’ll see.

03.01am
More backstage stuff, and we get a great promo by Michaels which basically confirms that Jericho and he will keep going for a bit yet.

Next, Punk is interviewed by Eve (and was booed a little when he appeared) and the obligatory interruption comes from Orton. Nice to and fro before it’s Ted and ‘Fro.....and Cody, who interject. Yeah, that was a little weak, I’m sorry.

The Tag Champs plus their new buddy beat down Punk, and Kofi comes to help but to no avail. So Kofi can help Punk who he has never acknowledged on TV, but Triple H doesn’t assist Shawn. Ok then.

Orton tees off on Punk’s head with a great kick which the camera caught splendidly, and the heels leave, with Orton telling the other guys that he found those actions truly impressive.

03.05am
Back in the ring, we are several minutes into a very important segment. This audience have to get some refreshments at some point.

Maryse and Michelle are having a snoozefest of sloppy ‘wrestling’, with even a ‘boring’ chant being beyond the audience.

Michelle is so devoid of emotion, talent and charisma there is no reason to support her. Maryse, to her part, is a vaguely decent heel. Can’t wrestle though. Maryse actually wouldn’t be out of place in the Beautiful People in TNA.

03.08am
Michelle wins. Four people cheer.

03.11am
Adamle announces that after Punk was attacked he mightn’t be able to compete. He says he might have to find a suitable replacement.

Soon, Show comes out to offer Adamle his services. By the way, Adamle didn’t say if the title is still on the line if Punk doesn’t compete. It seems that it surely would be, but nothing was confirmed.

Show doesn’t talk long, but asks the fans if he should be in the scramble match. They sheer halfheartedly, and he reacts as though they went bananas. Poo Show. I love the guy, but he’s just doomed to apathy.

03.14am
Vickie is out to berate him, and is interrupted by choir music and a bunch of druids wheeling a huge coffin. Show is pissing himself laughing, which looks like overacting, which suggests SHENANIGANS to me. (I love that word, so I capitalised it.)

His celebratory attitude would work if Vickie looked freaked out, but she doesn’t. One of them has missed the pitch of this, but I don’t know which. Mind you, in indicating to her that she’ll be kicked out he raised a chuckle from me.

03.17am
Taker on the big screen. Threatening Vickie with murder. Well, he got away with killing Edge, apparently, so he might as well go for 2-0.

Show hold Vickie while Taker now approaches. I’m sure Show will nail Taker now, but let’s see. There is just too much hamming going on in the ring for there not to be a swerve. Vickie bolts but Show retrieves her. Is Show now an acolyte or something?

Taker takes an eternity to get to the ring as normal, which must be great news for CM Punk, trying to come to in the back.

03.20am
Look at the time-checks I’m going on this to see how long this is taking. Talk about padding this out.

Taker taking his hat off........

03.22am
Show attacks Taker. Wow, didn’t see that coming (note sarcasm). They just make things so bloody obvious. Show was blatantly hovering and waiting for Taker, and his overacting (both his and Vickie’s overacting, actually) ended up telegraphing this.

03.26am
Show finishes his slow, rather dull, attack on Taker. JR says that if this was a boxing match it would have been stopped. Or, Jim, a wrestling match with no rules. They get stopped too.

Vickie slaps Taker after Show held him, and then spits on him. Big Show leaves with Vickie, and completes the 375th heel turn of his WWE career.

03.28am
Segment ends. That was like 17 minutes.

03.32am
After Regal tells Adamle to look no further than him to replace Punk, we go to the ring for Batista and JBL to start the match. This is going to be an exciting five minutes............

Oh, and they flashed up and went through the rules of the match. Good Lord. You made the rules daft, then made them better, and now you can’t stop telling us. We’ve seen two scramble matches (two very good scramble matches) we know the f’n rules.

03.35am
Match (20 minute duration) starts with 25 minutes of the PPV to go by my watch.

03.42am
Dull, big man stuff so far. Kane chokeslams JBL to become interim champ just before Rey is in next. I make that 8 minutes so far, not ten.

03.45am
Rey has a huge Mohawk, but I can’t tell if it’s a Shannon Moore-like ‘do, or part of his mask outfit. Either way, Kane is owning him right now.

03.47am
No Punk...........it’s Jericho. He is selling the beating, and after a minute hasn’t hit the ring. They are well under time here.

This one has really dragged. They’ve run out of ideas. Many have said that the scramble was a good idea but three was overkill. Spot on, from what I can see.

03.49am
Three minutes on the clock, Jericho hasn’t entered yet. Still Kane as champ as we stand. Rey’s haircut is his own hair. That’s how dull the match is, I’m looking at hairstyles.

03.50am
Two to go, big moves being hit and no falls. Jericho to steal it?

03.51am
Kane gets a two count on Batista. More idiocy. 60 seconds left.

03.52am
It’s over. And our champion is............Chris Jericho. O...........K. What the hell happened there?

I don’t know if I’m happy or not. What I will say is that I like the idea that something huge happens on a PPV and people who didn’t watch go “shoot, I wish I’d seen that.”

I exchanged texts with a mate while that match was ongoing, and we listed Michaels, Christian Cage, Edge, Regal, Show, Kofi, Sid Justice, Rob Van Dam, Randy Orton and even Mike Adamle himself.

Some were legit shouts, many were just us having a joke, but we left out Jericho. I thought Orton looked likely, but in the end it was the Russo swerve – i.e. it was surprising, but made little sense. Why would Adamle select Jericho exactly?

The match was terrible, but I suppose it was never going to be great, and won’t be remembered because the finish will override the memory of the match itself.

Batista looked the most pissed off, so perhaps he is the first in line.

Looking forward to Raw. Lots to explain and clear up. Next PPV in 4 weeks. Should be interesting.