Judgment Day Live Blog

00.58am
Good Afternoon/Evening/Morning, whereever you are in the world. Judgment Day is minutes away. I've just read a Spoiler, which I'm annoyed about. I try not to read spoilers just before big shows, and I broke my rule. I won't let you in on it, that wouldn't be fair. I'll let you know if it happens, when it does.......or doesn't, if you get my drift.

For those who care, drink of choice is Irn Bru (If you are outside UK, google it) and snack is Fruit Pastilles (just the red and purple ones).

01.01am
Is that meant to be an English accent on the voiceover at the start?

01.03am
Trying to pump up the crowd straight out of the blocks, here comes the Punker. He'll take on Umaga first up, and it seems it's Todd and JR on commentary first up. Are we back to individual announce teams?

I like the irony of CM Punk wrestling the man who it was suggested was a Samoa Joe impersonator. For the record, I'm led to believe that not only was that not the case (unless you noticed, there were Samoans in Wrestling before Joe Seanoa) but there is no heat between the men. That thing you may have read in PWI was complete nonsense.

01.07am
Umaga with the......what do we call it, Uranage?.... within the opening minutes. Interesting, since that's the move that was shown as devastating on the recap just before the match.

01.08am
Remember you can join in with the blog - robthegreen@hotmail.com is the address.

01.11am
Nelson, and I wonder why the ring ropes are white?

Slow match so far. Punk with virtually no offense.

01.19am
Clean win for Umaga. I don't like Punk losing too often. I do like Umaga winnning, though. I dig the Umaga character, and would love to see a Umaga/Undertaker programme very similar to Mankind's one with Taker back in 1996 or so.

01.21am
Show with standard chat with Vickie, before someone walks in. Big cheer for Edge (for it was he) but we don't get to hear his conversation with his wife.

01.22am
I didn't know the Unprettier was now the Killswitch. I think that is something to do with the band that play CM Punk's music. Anyone clarify for me?

01.23am
Josh and Striker for ECW so we have a set of teams again. Nice cheer for Christian, and I know I say this every time, but I wish he had his old theme music - same song, but the other version.

Am I talking about songs more than wrestling so far?

Hey, there's my man Tony the Ring Announcer. Remember, Chimel fix it for you.

01.25am
Wow, that's incredible. I went to Umaga's Wikipedia page because I was having a moment of thought about his family tree - and get this, his profile has already been updated to reflect him defeating CM Punk tonight. Who is doing things that quickly?

01.31am
Decent match so far, although it's got frantic early. Some nice spots, and a different match to last time, which is nice.

Great shot of Christian nailing a twisting elbow from the middle rope looking like he was flying into my living room (I'm actually in my office, but that sounds wrong)

Nice realism as the referee doesn't count when Christian's shoulders aren't quite down. Really enjoying this now.

01.34am
Official spot Swagger pulling the tights on a pin attempt, so stops the pin, making him the SMARTEST OFFICIAL EVER

01.35am
Christian pulls the straps of Swagger's wrestling gear down, then rolls him up and pulls the tights. Ref fails to spot this making him an IDIOT!! (Aren't I consistant?)

Seriously, though, I like that. That was nicely put together, and Striker's explanation post-match about straps being kept up in amateur wrestling was a terrific call.

Well done all round. Really enjoyed that match. Great pacing, clever thought process, nice counters. High quality stuff. Kudos to the guys and the agent involved.

01.39am
I'm still to be convinced of babyface Morrison (I'm the same with babyface Carlito. There are some characters who just fit with heel in my opinion) but this match should be good. Really nice feel to the show tonight. Crowd seem up, announcers on their game, and so far one one pretty good match and very good one for me.

Nice crowd shot of Chicago. I have been there for a week or so (Bound for Glory last year), and it truly is a fantastic city. Hope to go back someday.

01.41am
Benjamin has Haas with him. Let's see if that becomes important.

J-Mo does one heck of a move to the outside. A springboard 450 plancha I guess.

01.43am
Here's a thought. When Show and Vickie were talking, they mentioned Cena being out of action along with Triple H. Never mentioned Shawn Michaels. I wish they'd mention guys when they are nowhere to be seen and tell us why.

01.45am
JR is not into poetry apparantly. Forsooth, who would have guessed it?

01.46am
Back to the Christian and Swagger match briefly, and I'd to credit WWE for booking the finish I predicted :-) - that being a conclusion to give Christian the credit for being resourceful and using experience, and making Swagger's only negative being that he is young.

01.51am
So much fun. I've been saying for a long time that I think Morrison is the next guy ready to step up and be counted. This is the first time I've truly believed it, and I now think he could be anything he likes.

In one performance, he's.....well he hasn't converted me, because I was already a fan, but he has made me a firm believer. I tell you what, I'll take back what I said pre-match too. Morrison's offense was so flashy, so good to watch, so Jeff Hardy like, that people will cheer it.

Only disappointment was that they slightly botched a spot with Shelton supposed to be catching Morrison and powerbombing him into the corner, except he toppled just short.

01.55am
Proper heat for Miz, now. He refers to Morrison as Marty Janetty and rags on the crowd. Great stuff. He's challenging a Chicago Cub player who is looking like he is a mannequin. Some references that I'm afraid I don't understand to the guy being injured. He barely looks angry, amused, annoyed, or anything. Is he an Anglophone?

Miz claims this as a win over Cena, because the guy is apparantly a Cena substitute. He is 4-0, and......Santino? Speaking of lovable losers........

Santino says about the Cubs player being a fellow Italian, which gets a laugh, so I assume he isn't.

We end with Miz and Santino fighting, and the former getting the upper hand. Santino officially a babyface now, I guess. A little bit of fire for Santino, which was interesting. Hopefully Santina is no more, but I wouldn't count on it.

Chavo attacks Santino after Miz does. Great stuff. I like it when things overlap. From Edge/Vickie, to Chavo, to Santino, to Miz, to Cena, to Show, and back again. Nice stuff.

02.07am
IC title time. Nice build-up promo from Jericho, and then out comes Rey.

02.08am
Letter alert!!!

"hey, delliott here. You said that WWE are booking it straight with no gimmick matches right? Did u think about the next ppv being all gimmick matches?

Maybe they're trying to increase the shock vaule of extreme rules."

Very fair point. Hadn't thought of that at all. It makes for commons sense. I hope, though, that they manage to do it more often so as to increase the value of gimmick matches. I hate an entire PPV being gimmicked. Lockdown has worked a couple of times, but generally I can't help but think it's a bad idea.

02.12am
Early Y2J chants from the crowd to counter the great reaction Rey got. I hope this match can ebb and flow, and swing from one man to the other. The crowd will dig that.

02.14am
Couple more letters. Firstly Bob Baker:

"Do you think the Umaga win was to put us off the scent of a Punk cash-in in his hometown?"

Probably not. We thought it might last time, didn't we, with Kane? Mind you, the reaction would be a amazing. This crowd are hot tonight.

And from LuisBoy:

"Have you heard the spoiler that......" I'm ending this email, which repeats the spoiler I talked about earlier. Grr, I hate opening emails sometimes. Thanks Luis.

02.17am
ASK HIM!!

02.18am
I might be making a leap here, but Grisham just did a major pause, simply saying "Jericho" and letting it hang while Mysterio hit a move. This came just after he said the word "Luchador" - can't imagine Vince liking that word, so maybe he was getting told off.

02.24am
I would have prefered to see Jericho win, but apart from that, I'll just drool over a superb wrestling match. I'm going to say it, despite Todd possibly getting ripped for saying Luchador. That was a proper, bona fide WRESTLING match, kids.

Beautifully paced, terrifically executed. A clinic.

02.26am
Hows this for an observation.......

In the old days, the start of the NWO period really, the WCW pay per views were strong, and although the main events full of old guys generally sucked (Hogan/Warrior, Hogan/Piper etc), the undercard was usually great.

How nice that after Punk/Umaga set a decent opening level, Christian and Swagger engaged in a nice to-and-fro and Morrison and Benjamin wowed the crowd, up stepped Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho to put in a superb effort at a crucial point. Thats Chris Jericho and Rey Misterio Jnr from the Atlanta movement, two men, along with likes of Malenko, Benoit, Guererro and others who regularly bolstered the WCW PPVs I mention.

02.30am
Randy Orton hits the ring (I hate it when the champ comes out first) alone. No Cody or Teddy yet.

By the way, Randy, no pressure in following a great match. I know you can do it.

Just not in Houston.

02.39am
Fancy another observation? Four matches ranging from ok through very good to excellent. None from Raw.

02.49am
I wasn't expecting that.

Here's the thing. This was a worse match than Triple H and Orton at Mania, but not a disappointment. I didn't expect this match to be much. Orton and Trips had a match at Mania significantly worse than any other one they have had. It was just south of average. This was poor, but I expected poor. Batista has two gears. Slow and slower.

I'll give him credit for hitting a move off the top rope, though. Something he presumably learned from Ric Flair!

I'll come to him in a second. The match story of Orton trying to get out of the match was going ok, but why if he ends it by slapping the ref, why not do that straight away?

Booking 101 into a no-dq match at Extreme Rules. Now you know why this didn't go on last.

So Naitch appears post match. Great, Randy and co get to look weak in front of another old/inactive/both (delete as applicable) guy.

I assume Flair is involved for two reasons. One to make sure he doesn't get too pally with Ring of Honor, but more importantly to facilitate a turn. Think about it. If Triple H or Batista turn on the other it is likely to split people. Not everyone will buy the turn, whomever does it.

If, however, the turnee obliterates Ric Flair rather than the other man, then they get more heat right away. I'd say that Batista blames Flair at some point for costing him something, and then Trips comes to defend Flair's (Not Ring of) honour.

02.57am
How about this one then.......Reid Flair for Legacy?

03.14am
OK, stay with me on this one.........

I found that dull and boring. I tidied some things up rather than simply sitting back and watching.

But I applaud them greatly for that match. The WWE audience spans a range of ages. There will be seven year old kids who don't realise that Jericho and Rey were awesome, and just wanted to see John Cena.

When he came on, he particpated in a match with a great story. Kids don't see fujiwara arm bars and inside cradles. They see good and evil, heroes and villains, in black and white terms. Cena is a hero, and like all good heroes, he vanquished the enemy who looked certain to win the day.

Like I say, not my cup of tea, but in context that was very well executed.

03.48am
Several points to make.

You know that spoiler I mentioned? It was that Jeff would be champion at Extreme Rules. So then, either he will win on a future Smackdown or it was nonsense.

Poor camerawork for the mid air spear. Great camerawork for the Matt Hardy interference (but why didn't Matt just run in and smash Jeff? He wouldn't win the belt, would he? We've seen that with Orton.)

God I hate that referee. Put simply, you can tell when he is going to pull up and not count to three, so all nearfalls become redundant. You can't have false finishes with him.

The call was terrible. I hesitate to blame Grisham, because I don't know what he is being told to say, and because his performances to now have been solid, but he ruined the main event for me. JR was calling the match (THE MATCH) to make it feel big, but Grish was repeating things and talking about dotcom polls. More work needed, I think.

A good closing match. The pace of the match did make you sway one way and another in who you'd think would win. When Jeff kicked out of Matt's interference it looked as though he might take it.

Could Christian be done with Swagger and fulfil my dream of Jeff/Christian v Matt/Edge? It's still possible.

That has to be considered a strong PPV, but once again, I'm afraid, Randy Orton's title match is one of, if not THE weak spot. The show was bowling along until that point, and he and Batista never really got going, for me. I've explained that I didn't care for the Cena match but was happy with the reasons behind it. I wouldn't have minded that going higher up the card, perhaps before Rey and Jericho.

WWE continue their trend of late. Overall strong PPV, but one title match lacking in substance.

Judgment Day Preview

Two scenarios:

- The WWE take a look at their last five years off PPV, as well as TNA’s offerings, and decide to see how it would go if they strip down a PPV and simply book a series of matches pitting one man against another with the bare minimum of stipulations.

- The WWE busk it after Wrestlemania, don’t really think very ahead past Backlash at the latest and simply pick fourteen blokes and put them against one another.

To be honest, I think the Judgment Day PPV build up may fall somewhere between the two above scenarios. You may well have your own opinion as to how things came about.

What is remarkable is that the card for tonight does, as pointed out, feature, at this moment, seven singles contests.

With my wrestling viewer’s head on, I like it. I’m very excited, genuinely, by two of the matches, and am also very curious about two more.(I’ll explain more as we go)

However, with my Marketing head on (I worked in Marketing for three years) I’d suggest to you that all things which people buy need to have a USP – a Unique Selling Point. I don’t see what the USP is to most people.

Purists will have you believe that all this storyline stuff is nonsense and what you need to do is simply book wrestling. A balance is needed, though, and an audience which is programmed to understand the traditional WWE booking, I think, is unlikely to invest heavily in a PPV product which has no major reason to buy it.

Look at it this way – is there a unique match to build to? Is there a major match format – Hell in a Cell, for example – involved? Is there a theme (Survivor Series, Royal Rumble)? Must you see a resolution to a feud?

I don’t think you answer any of those questions in the affirmative. I don’t think Randy Orton v Batista is gripping enough to persuade people to shell out loads of money.

I’d like to clarify that I will be buying the PPV tonight and I think that it will be a great show. From a business perspective I’m not sure it’ll work. I hope I’m wrong.

John Morrison v Shelton Benjamin
Hmm. Interesting one. What do we do with Shelton, he’s been around for ages? What shall we do with John Morrison, now that he is on his own? May as well throw them together.

Fine by me. I get the feeling these two could really have some fun and bring the best of each other. I will enjoy sitting back and watching the match, and hope that each man will try to top the other. My concern, as illustrated before, is that really will anyone care? No titles are on the line and there isn’t really a heated rivalry.

I would think the logical thing is for Morrison to win. He is the up-and-comer really, and especially after a face turn should be the one getting a leg up from this win.

Prediction: John Morrison


CM Punk v Umaga
I’ve liked the build to this. Punk waiting to use the briefcase, looking strong against Edge, is really good for his push and character, but here comes Umaga to ruin it for him. Simple – evil heel screws gallant babyface.

One problem – this has to harm one man. The right booking is that Punk slays Umaga and carries on going after the champ. This puts Umaga’s status as unstoppable madman on hold. If Umaga wins he can look strong and imperious, but it dents Punk’s status as deserving of a world title and isn’t the right end to a story.

Prediction – Despite me not liking it, I think they’ll book a Punk wins by DQ finish. This keeps Umaga over as a beats without jobbing out Punk


Jack Swagger v Christian
These two......I was going to say surprised everybody with their great match last time, but that’s not fair. I was surprised with how good it was, but then I was one of the few people on earth to not like Swagger’s match with Cena, which I viewed as dull but most (and many better positioned to comment than I) found it exciting.

Now, the bar is raised. They have already had one good match in Christian prevailed – where do they go now? To me logical booking is that Christian wins, once again winning due to his brain. The explanation, if commentators are on the ball, is then that Swagger and Christian are really evenly matched, it’s just that Captain Charisma has the edge in terms of experience. When booked and explained in this way, Swagger does not look weak, because it is not his fault that he lost – he can’t help being inexperienced.

To me, Swagger can look at four examples of people coming into a company and getting majorly pushed from the off. Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar got fed up. Goldberg fizzled out. Randy Orton is World Champion who has had some ups and downs.

That’s one out of four. And even then Randy has had a rocky time. He is only now TRULY looking the part. Swagger does not need to be (real) World Champion just yet. In fact he does not even need to be Intercontinental champion yet. Don’t push him to loads of titles. Let him wrestle Christian and learn. Let him face Regal and Finlay and others who can put him over and help him progress.

Prediction – I do think they’ll let Christian retain. Part of me thinks that Swagger might get one back, leading to a rubber match down the line, so don’t discount that. I’m sticking with the former Mr Cage, though.



John Cena v Big Show
Sometimes, in the job I do, you have to sit back and accept that something is being booked for a reason. I have no real interest in Big Show (whom I’ve always thought comes across as a good guy, a great entertainer, but a poor wrestler) wrestling Cena (very similar description, but rate him higher as a worker) I’m afraid.

I liked the spot that led to this match, but I’ve not been crazy about the story of Cena being basically a zombie for several weeks. I think Show might actually win this, with the explanation being that Cena is not 100%, and then they can do a rematch when Cena turns the tables.

I’d factor in Miz too. I probably wouldn’t have him cost Cena the match, but do a sneaky little attack before the match, or preferably some sort of attack afterwards.

Prediction – I’m going with Show, although chances are that’s me jumping the gun and they’ll simply have Cena win. I’m not crazy about seeing a major Big Show push, but I don’t like the idea that he was put clean over Undertaker (again) for no reason.


Rey Mysterio v Chris Jericho (IC Title)
I am really looking forward to this. This was one of the two matches I told you that I am really excited about (the other is Edge and Hardy) and I should think should be the highlight of the night.

The main source of intrigue for me is how realistic they can make it. I enjoy watching Rey Mysterio to a point, but the main thing that stops me being crazy about him is that so much of his stuff needs such a massive leap of faith to believe.

Jericho, meanwhile, is the opposite. He talks such sense, is such a believable character, and constructs such a fantastic aura around everything he does. I hope he can weave his magic, and do what I believe only two men – Edge and Kurt Angle, since you ask - have done before and have a stand up classic match with Rey Mysterio.

Shit, I have to pick a winner don’t I?

Prediction – I’m struggling, but I’m going to cop out and go with a BS DQ finish, with Jericho getting fed up of Rey kicking out and hitting him with a belt or something. Jericho can later talk his way out of it by saying the IC title is beneath him and that he really cares about the World belt.

Edge v Jeff Hardy – World Title
So, do you milk Jeff Hardy for all he worth before his (allegedly) inevitable exit? Do you give him the title and hope it persuades him to stay? Or do you use him to put a few people over and send him on his way?

I suppose a few of these don’t necessarily become mutually exclusive, but I figure that they won’t go mad with him if he is leaving – and this is IF he is leaving.

I’d take Edge to win. I think this needs to be a sedentary PPV as far as titles go. There have been a few too many changes of late, although I do believe that belts must change hands with a reasonable regularity these days. I’m more intrigued about how things will go now that Edge and Vickie are on separate shows despite not having a real break up on screen.

Prediction – A cracker if they are allowed to click, but an Edge victory ultimately.


Randy Orton v Batista (WWE title)
So who is turning? All signs point to another slow build with Batista and Triple H, with the presumed reason being Triple H being pissed off at Batista costing him the title. But wouldn’t that mean Trips goes heel? That would be logical.

Nah, I don’t see it. I don’t want to see Batista v Triple H with the Game as heel again. Make it fresh, and make Batista the nasty heel with the chip on his shoulder.

If, and it seems likely, Triple H and Batista pair off, then it makes no sense to have this for a title if the rivalry is so strong. Therefore, Orton needs to retain. You could even let MVP have a one-time shot at the next PPV before thrusting Cena forward again.

Prediction – It has to be Orton to retain. Whether with help by his cohorts or Batista losing his rag, the master of the RKO needs to keep the belt.

Enjoy the PPV – live Blog with me during the show will be up as per usual.

Admittedly Late raw Thoughts, May 11

· I know I moan about it a lot, but why must they insist on continually saying “Skull” and not head. I’ve criticised Michael Cole for saying it, but it’s probably not his fault. DiBiase said it to Batista and it sounded ridiculous.
· Sound booking, teasing Batista with joining Legacy. Batista’s hesitation hints at a possible heel turn soon, and then you have the ‘with us or against us’ thing of Legacy hating him more.
· I like this Batista thing of getting DQ-ed. I think it’s a plausible angle, but the commentators need to talk it up. Maybe even to do a Mike Tenay-style ‘points to watch’ before the match and highlight Batista’s weakness in this area.
· Not a bad divas match, but punctuated by a horrible looking spot by Kelly Kelly who opened the ropes allowing Jillian to simply run through. Interesting little story between MIckie and Maryse, but I really wish they’d give the girls more character development and interesting stories.
· Wow, did I see that correctly? Orton pushing away a camera. I really like that, and we need to continue that string of common sense and acknowledgment of cameras.
· I think they’ve gone a little early with Miz and Cena. They could have made the match a lot shorter, although I liked Miz attacking Cena after Vickie’s intervention and therefore claiming a victory. Really clever booking of Miz who has very genuine heat.
· I’m fed up of the Santina stuff. The man is very funny, but there it too much stupid stuff involved now.
· What do you know? Logic to end the show. One on one with Batista and Orton – Dave doesn’t need a wrestling match, so he beats the shit out of Randy. Makes sense.
· I think the build to Judgment Day has been average at best (difficult with only a three week gap again) but I can see the PPV being really good. There are some exciting matches setup (Punk/Umaga, Jeff/Edge, Jericho/Rey) and with WWE’s recent record, over the last two years or so, of making PPVs very good, then I’m hopeful of a decent one.

Judgment Day........well, Judgements

01.00am
Welcome to your Judgment Day, folks. That’s my Judgment that the word Judgment should have an extra “e” in it, and that this PPV looks shit.

01.02
We’re about to go live for the show, and for a fun fact, I just put the correct channel on my TV (it’s on Sky Box Office here in England) and the film showing on the channel next door is “The Heartbreak Kid”. That means nothing, of course, but I thought I’d bring it to you. You can tell how excited I am about this show, can’t you.

By the way, I watched TNA’s last PPV today, and quite liked it. I’ll try to review them in future, but we don’t get them live over here.

01.06
Oh joy, JBL v Cena to kick off. To be fair to Cena, his crowd reaction was immense it seemed, and mostly positive too.

01.09
Three minutes in, we have a wrench of Cena’s arm, by JBL, on the ropes. Another PPV of relentless working a body part?

01.13
I think Cena may be hurt. However, I though HBK was hurt last time, so you probably shouldn’t listen to me. They definitely botched a spot, though, as Cena tried to lift JBL in powerbomb-esque fashion, and failed. They’ll make it out to be a symptom of Cena’s arm hurting, but they didn’t mean it.

Meanwhile, the match is terrible, and an injury wouldn’t worsen what is already snooze-worthy .Cena jerking the curtain is so bizarre.

01.16
Actually, I shouldn’t be so down on them missing spots. AJ Styles is a genius whose work might just be my favourite of anyone’s right now, and he made two howlers at Sacrifice. Everyoone Mokes mastikes II suppooose.

01.18
JBL needs to pick the match. He needs to convince me, and everyone else, that he is worthy of watching, and to do this he.............steals the signature move of Chris Masters. Wow, go John, go John.

*Picks up phone

“Hello? Yes, I’d like to order 17,000 boxes of Mamajuana please..........”

Yes, I am being sarcastic.

01.22
Cena wins after...........16 minutes? Did I time that right? They gave it 16 minutes? OK, to be fair, the pace got the fans into it, and they popped a couple of times for Cena nearly making a comeback, and then for the quick finish. However, it may have heat for the opening match.

01.26
The ECW show is so important that the recap of the feud shows features from WWE.com with really, REALLY, lame impersonations of Kane and Punk by Miz and Morrison. E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub! Extreme..........ly boring.

01.32
We’re ready for the match, and to be fair, it probably won’t be that bad. I wonder if Punk is being deliberately lost in a tag match to make the fact that he could cash in his briefcase later less likely?

Sorry to keep going back to TNA, but when Borash did the announcement of the title match between Jo, Kaz and Steiner, it felt appropriate. Tony Chimel (or whoever it was – I was looking down typing while he spoke) announcing the WWE Tag Team Championships, which no-one gives a damn about, takes away the shine from doing the announcements that way in the big ones.

01.33
Kane pulls out an old submission hold he used as Isaac Yankem which resembles pulling teeth. Not to be confused with watching a JBL match – which is preferable to pulling teeth.

(Cheap plug – check out a future issue of Fighting Spirit magazine, which will feature an article about Glen Jacobs by yours truly. But I don’t need to plug, because you always by that magazine........don’t you? If you don’t, you should)


01.40
Morrison pins Punk to retain the titles in a ok bout which never grabbed me in a meaningful way. No disagreement between Kane and Punk, no shenanigans for the champs to retain. While I enjoyed the match itself, to an extent, matches like these opening two kill me on PPVs. What’s the point? There is very little build-up, there is no real reason for fans to care. It doesn’t warrant PPV inclusion. The next one, however, does.

01.45
Right, don’t overbook this for goodness sakes. Jericho and Michaels are both great in the ring, and have built this up well. I don’t mind a shoddy finish, because this is clearly going to carry on, and there is a PPV in a few weeks. I’m guessing we may see Batista here, making it lead to a Triple Threat next time.

I’m just keen that they let this one roll, and don’t go stupid with an injury spot leading to more “is he hurt?” nonsense. Just have a match, it’ll probably be good if you give it 15 or so, let each man get a near-fall, and if you don’t want to make it a clean finish, let Batista come in a demolish Michaels. When Jericho shows dissent at the interference, Big Dave bashes him too.

As a quick, late prediction, if it goes clean Michaels will win, because otherwise, why not put the IC title on the line?

02.05
Lots of points to make – firstly that my signal wasn’t perfect during this match, which is really annoying because it was perfect during the opening two contests.

Next, I really love Michaels ‘inverted figure-4’ move, but using it early, having Y2J escape reasonably easy and Jericho not really sell the leg didn’t help.

Next, the biggest thing that has ruined this otherwise excellent programme is that they cannot get the knee problem right. From the match with Batista, to his limping on Raw, Michaels has sold the left knee. At the start of this match, Jericho tried (in vain) to attack Shawn’s left knee. However, from the very first replay the night after the Backlash Pay Per View, JR and King have called the injury as being to HBK’s RIGHT knee. It is very, very poor inconsistency.

The crowd were not into this. I quite the like the intrigue of their characters of late, but although the people bought into a couple of holds and false finishes (notably the Lion tamer), they didn’t have an overwhelming favourite. I sensed plenty of Y2J support, but not to huge degrees.

I loved the idea of Jericho feigning injury to avoid a superkick, but if he knew what he was doing when he hit the codebreaker, why didn’t he follow up. HBK should have rolled to the outside if he was not going to be counted down.

I cannot stand seeing the crossface again and again. It is so unnecessary. Jericho sold it amazingly though.

That’s all me being picky – great match. Perfect emotions from each man, great technique in terms of execution of moves, and some very innovative spots to help the storytelling. I really liked the post-match stuff too. Furthered characters just that little bit more.

I’d prefer to put Jericho over here, because beating Shawn would help him greatly and wouldn’t really hurt Shawn, because of HBK’s lofty position and the fact that the match was a belter and evenly matched.

Loved it. Really loved it. Think how good it could have been with a couple of small flaws ironed out.


02.08
Quick interview with Todd with Mickie (bad hair day for the lass James, by the way) briefly mentioning her going out with Cena, but interruption comes from JBL.

JBL intimates Grisham, and sells himself really well as a bully, as a bad-ass, and as a legitimately mean guy. It would be believable if he ever won a match. He defends his match against Cena by saying that he beat Cena down for 20 minutes. Firstly, it was 16, with a lot of stalling, and second, JBL’s entire title reign was based on him squeezing out technical victories when he looked beaten. Great intensity, weak logic.

02.13
The ladies are on their way out for a triple threat between Beth, Mickie and Melina for the Women’s title, and I apologise for wrongly stating this was a singles match in my (admittedly late) predictions piece.

Recap is shown of Melina and Beth fighting backstage last week on Raw. I love the fact that, when so annoyed by someone that she felt the need to throw a......forearm. Because legal blows are necessary in a backstage brawl.

02.21
Hey, what do you know? It was short, but for what it was, it was very good indeed. Some fast-pacing, some neat spots and a great performance by Melina, who wrestled possibly the best match I’ve seen her have.

Bit of a weak finish, and the WWE has a long way to go in signing some legitimately talented females stars and build them characters, but as matches to rival the knockouts, this was better than the convoluted ‘makeover’ match at Sacrifice.

02.22
Batista confronts Shawn in the locker room, telling him that he’ll hurt him soon. Fair enough, but HBK should not be placed in close-up shots. Man, he is balding alarmingly.

02.25
Recap of the Edge/Taker recent programme on Smackdown – including Vickie being unable to deliver a decent promo or correctly say the word ‘larynx’.

02.54
Hmm.

As you may know, I am not a big Undertaker fan. Most of this match was typical Taker ‘blah’, but I’ll give them credit for a decent section as the end approached, with some credible near-fall action and with it actually making Edge look strong.

The finish itself I’ll let go as it is obviously a storyline point, and there was no point to them putting it back on Taker after stripping him of it, and always unlikely that Edge would win it clean. My God the segment with Vickie doing her speech was dreadful. Whether she took too long to build the tension and heat, or merely got the jitters and forgot her lines. There was a great deal of dragging of feet in the aftermath of this, considering the ladies’ match looked promising but was cut very short.

02.58
MVP is out bemoaning him being left off the card and his challenge for someone to come out and meet him is met by............Matt Hardy. What a surprise. But wait, it’s his brother that will challenge MVP.

I’m torn about stuff like this. I suppose if a match is good then I welcome it, but I hate having a Pay Per View match with no build up to it.

TNA throw a lot of stuff against a wall and hope it sticks, but when you think about MVP, Hardy (x2) Kennedy, Umaga, Finlay, Shelton, Chavo, Burke and Kennedy all standing out as good wrestlers with reasonable standing not booked on the card, as well as big names like Big Show and Batista and other talents like Carlito, Kingston and Wang Yang that can go, but are under-utilised.

I understand that spot fests like Money in the Bank are better if used sparingly, and that the “Terrordome” could have been much better, but having Miz and Morrison defend in a tepid 10 minuter and not using any of the aforementioned stars seems lopsided. Surely something could have been worked in for a bunch of these guys.

03.12
Hmm, once again.

A decent contest, with the booking key to be to push Jeff Hardy upon his return, and to have his “Whisper in the Wind” corkscrew moonsault to look like a credible finisher.

I’m annoyed that it took MVP to have to job again to push Jeff a bit, but I’d say that losing to Jeff won’t hurt him too much, as if and when he gets a big push, it will largely start from scratch (MVP, I’m talking about)

I do feel, though, that certain people never, ever lose cleanly when doing so could promote others in a major way. I’ll give Triple H a lot of credit for, at certain times, putting over Cena, Batista Jeff Hardy at vital times.

Michaels and Undertaker, though, could stand to drop a match or two. Yes, HBK lost to Cena and Taker to Batista, but both men got victories back at some point. Don’t forget, HBK and Taker are huge stars. It really wouldn’t kill them to put someone over from time to time.

I’m not necessarily blaming them I don’t know who books what, with whose influence and with which plan in mind. I just know that Jericho, Punk, Kennedy and MVP lose far too often, stopping their upward mobility, while Michaels and the Deadman always go over even though others would often benefit, even short term.

03.20
Orton is in the ring to some new music, which is typically generic and doesn’t really apply to him at all – what I can make out of it. It seems to be along the lines of “I hear voices” which he doesn’t. If he did, he could have blamed ‘the voices’ for him trashing hotel rooms, defecating in bags, breaching wellness policies............allegedly.

03.25
Announcements done, and we are underway. By the way, my satellite signal is struggling badly, so I may not be able to absorb the full nature of this match.

I really didn’t get a full view of this match so I cannot really comment on the nature of it, really. I have no idea if many of you had similar problems.

All I’ll comment on is the outcome, which was reasonably predictable. I’m not complaining. I liked that it was clean, and things have to move on. Although people will moan about Triple H’s standing in the company, he is a solid hand and is very, very over. Orton has had a great run in the last 12 months or so, and it is time to freshen it.

Triple H v John Cena seems to be the likely progression of the title picture for the summer, while hopefully the likes of Jeff Hardy and Ken Kennedy (behaviour permitting) can be placed as developing stars, getting to the status that Jeff did at the Royal Rumble, and maybe even giving them a run. None of them are ready for that right now, though, so a Triple H title run is not the worst thing in the world.

Oh, and my TV picture quality returned in time to see Triple H celebrating. Why didn’t it screw up with the first two matches? Oh well.

A half-decent PPV. I won’t cry if I never see it again, but a pleasant memory will be there with Jericho and Michaels putting on another terrific match, and some nice bits of progression with the Women’s division and several logical match finishes.

God knows how you build to another PPV in two weeks, though.

Judgment Day Predictions

Very, very late one - I'm sorry, but I've been ultra busy this week. Quick predictions then:

Triple H v Randy Orton

Really can't see them sticking the belt back on Orton so quickly after putting it onto The Game, so Triple H will win. Although there is the Regal factor to take into consideration. Trips may win despite the interference of the GM, setting up a HHH/Regal programme - although don't forget One Night Stand is just a fortnight away. Perhaps a further Trips/Orton encounter there to blow off the feud, with Regal getting involved then.

Taker v Edge

Good Lord I'm fed up of this. What is the point of stripping someone of the belt only to set up a rematch of the last bloody feud. Edge to win, purely because it's pointless having Taker win three times. Edge wins, with loads of interference.

The Miz & Morrison v Kane and CM Punk

One of two ways to go - whats the point of teaming these two up if they are not going to win? Answer - none, unless they are going to feud. Kane to cost Punk, these two to wrestle at One Night Stand.

Shawn Michaels v Chris Jericho

Hmmmm...........this has been weird. Who is face, who is heel? I'm suggesting one fakes and injury here somewhere, bizarre ending, then Last Man Standing match. Maybe HBK to win.

JBL v Cena

It will be boring like every other JBL match, and Cena will win. Like every other singles match Cena has and every match Cena has.

Beth v Mickie

I don't care - Beth probably.

WWE Judgment Day - thoughts and reaction

12.50AM.

I read Wrestlecrap earlier this weekend. RD says to watch because might be historic Wrestlecrap. I truly fear for this PPV. And for me having to justify to myself that I spent 15 quid on it. But you never know. Carlito v Flair may be passable. If they give Punk and Burke enough time it might be worth it. Hopeuflly Edge/Batista will tell a good story, and Benoit/MVP I am happy to see again.

But Cena versus an immobile non-anglophone? An injured HBK? And a roster devoid of Triple H, The Undertaker, Ken Kennedy, Booker T, Rey Mysterio and maybe HBK? This is a genuine crisis. Y2J could make a fortune, you know.

01.05am

Preliminaries done, and it looks like we are opening the show with Carlos Jr and Naitch. A bit insta-feud, but its brought Carlito on a little bit.

JR keeps putting over St Louis. Perhaps to suggest Flair and Carlito are ARCH enemies.

01.20am
I loved the old school heel tactic for Carlito to work on his foe’s arm. I loved the feel of this whole opener. Carlito proved he doesn’t have to rely on the rather contrived stringboard moves. It felt very much like a real scrap between two folks who particularly care for one another. I particularly like it when faces kick out at one all the time. Gives matches a more authentic feel, I think.

I’m a little disappointed Carlito didn’t win. I’ll be pacified if the feud ends with a Carlito win, but surely the point of putting a young buck like The Young Mr. Colon with a legend like Flair is to further the younger guy’s career. Not to have him dominate a body part for 10 minutes then lose to move we all knew was coming.

01.23am
HBK: “He’s Bald, King”. Interview with Todd Grisham. No wait, HBK: He’s Been Knocked-out. Orton attacks him from behind. The reason? HBK: His Bad Knee.

01.29am
After a lengthy video package, here comes……….the money. ECW title match and our first repeat of a Backlash match. I fully expected Lashley to win until I read about Lashley v McMahon at One Night Stand. Surely Lashley wins the blow off match, and if he wins against 3 guys, then why wouldn’t he beat one of them?

01.31am
I make it 7 minutes since I started my last entry, and most of that was taken up by entrances. That wasn’t what I expected, Lashley to win it that quickly, but it sort of backs up my previous statement, as D-D-D-Dusty Finish baby. Lashley needs to beat Vince to take the belt? I expect Bobby v Vince at ONS, extreme rules.

02.00am
My faith is beginning to be restored. They gave Punk and Burke nearly 20 minutes, and that might just be the best match the ‘new’ ECW has seen. It depressed me to hear CM Punk get nowhere near the reception that Lashley or Flair got, and then a scattering of “boring chants”. However, I sincerely hope that this was the Pay Per View single match that starts the CM Punk bandwagon rolling towards stardom.

And while I feel the former Chick Magnet is the one en route to superstardom, we shouldn’t discount the contribution of Elijah Burke either. I thought the match, though far from perfect, was a solid 4-star encounter, and if this is the new product direction, I;m all for it.

02.04am
Either Orton cracked HBK hard in the head or the former Kliq member has been drinking from his buddy Scott Hall’s pitcher. It’s a shot in the head concussion angle, and lets face it, it won’t be long until Shawn’s hair resembles Perry Saturn. Mind you, if he faced Randy Orton with Moppy, Orton would still put a chinlock on the mop. Then use the mop to tidy the mess in his hotel room. Allegedly.

02.10am
Although I appreciate they had to book around it, I thought there could surely have been a better way of sorting the Orton/HBK match out. Firstly, that could only hurt Orton was made to look stupid when floored for over minute when Michaels hit exactly one move. I don’t mind the after match RKO, but the wife’s overreaction was a bit much, and the logic of the match was flawed. If the doctors don’t allow the match to take place, then it doesn’t take place. And if the ref starts it, why finish it.

However, I’ll shut up now because the situation was damned difficult for them to sort out. With them trying to keep HBK strong, despite being crippled, and having Orton as the dominant one, but him being in the doghouse supposedly. To be fair, I cant really think of a better alternative.

Err, Edge says he has had the best two weeks ever? Didn’t he lose on Monday night?

02.18am
It’s the Hardys v Cade and Murdoch, being called by Cole and JBL for some reason? With three official Raw superstars, one Smackdown guy who has frequently appeared on Raw, a Raw referee and an angle which we have only seen on Raw, we have the Smackdown commentators.

Maybe its like Brian Christopher and Jerry Lawler. What with JBL being Cade’s father and all.

02.35am
So The Hardys do it. Fairly standard tag match. Neither spectacular nor sub-par, what annoyed me was that there were no real false finishes. I might have let Cade and Murdoch hit their finisher and have a couple of other spots to make me think that the title might change hands.

Murdoch and Cade did, however, shake hands. Which makes you wonder where they are going with that. But not too much.

02.40am
Its time for the hastily, but understandably, booked Edge v Batista match. Edge is, in my opinion, the strongest hand the WWE have right now, and placing him in a programme with someone we haven’t really seen him feud with, like Batista, is exciting. I’m just trying to work out what they will do with Batista when Kennedy comes back, because a hot face Kennedy v hated heel Edge should be a money match……….money in the bank, if you will.

02.47am
AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!! Sorry for the mid-match note, but Cole says that Edge “Literally picked the bones like a vulture.” No he didn’t, you ill-educated fool, he didn’t literally do it, he figuratively did it.

JBL just dropped a Carl Jung reference. Cole probably thinks he was one of the Dragons in WCW.

Actually JBL was full of gems in this one. Capriciousness? Sycophancy? Damn, they have Word of the Day toilet paper in Wall Street? Or maybe Matt Striker is finally getting through to someone.

02.57am
Christ, what with these two, Lashley, there are more spears than Zulu in this company now.

02.58am
A relatively sharp victory for Edge, and nice for him to win clean, via the (kayfabe) leg injury of Big Dave, rather than a rope hold or a ref bump.

03.03am
A seriously pointless Diva segment where they all discuss who will win the WWE title match. Krystal ends by saying that she predicts pain. That was certainly painful, so she probably knows what she is talking about. She is an extremely odd shape, Krystal. What with her stick thin build but surgically enhanced chest, and her man Teddy Long’s little head, they look like a couple of mannequin rejects. I’d be worried if I were them – they may fall asleep and Al Snow will try rip them apart for gimmick purposes.

Still, the segment featured ‘all’ the WWE divas. I think I counted eleven, with Torrie and Cherry conspicuous by their absence. With a dozen or more sources of talent like that, how easy do you think Rob the likes of Rob Conway and Nick Mitchell will sleep tonight?

03.05am
Benoit and MVP go at it again. This would have made more sense if MVP had taken one of the previous encounters, making the two out of three fall stipulation more appropriate, but I have enjoyed their matches thus far, so I’ll just try to enjoy.

03.20am
Another cracking little display from these two. Ironic that they have been given the slot normally reserved for the women’s match comedy spot. Well these two men were deadly serious, and didn’t let us down. And things have been finished in the appropriate manner, advancing the character of MVP, and I would say placing him in far higher regard than anyone could possibly have thought three months ago. Although, I have to say, my Sun colleague Simon insisted to me, Pre-Wrestlemania, that this guy could be big. I now believe him.

03.27am
And here we go. Gotch and Hackenschmidt. Funk and Lawler. Flair and Steamboat. Hart and Austin. Michaels and Angle. And now Cena and Khali.

03.39am
Mercifully it was fairly short. As will be my comments about it. Logic suggests Cena v Orton has to be imminent. However, my common sense tells me logic rarely has anything to do with booking. One Night Stand is two weeks away. Tomorrow’s Raw could have some very interesting signposts to how the summer may pan out.

Overall a pretty impressive show considering my expectations and the limitations imposed on the WWE by mother Nature and the fickle finger of Fate. A superb Burke/Punk match. Another great installment of Benoit/MVP. A quality opener with Carlito and Flair. A solid enough tag title match. Orton/HBK we’ll let pass. Ironic, really, that the three major title matches were the least impressive matches. Edge and Batista will need some fast build up and some sort of gimmick match ramp-up, Lashley v McMahon seems nailed on, and the ECW title match tonight was largely geared for that. To be fair, another 3 on 1 would have only really have been the same as their Backlash match.

If forced to put a rating on Judgment Day lets go 7.5 out of ten. I think that’s fair for an eight match card which had three great matches, but none of them major title encounters.