|
|
|
Pro's from the Palace (#29) - A Myriad of Opinions on WWE and ECW... |
» Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
» On Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at 9:44 PM EST
There's a few things I need to address with regard to the past few WWE programs I have been fortunate, or in some cases, unfortunate to witness. Let's go down the topics, one at a time....
ECW One Night Stand
Like I said before when I tried to make predictions for the pay per view, I am not an ECW veteran. I didn't see ECW when it was in its hayday. Most of my experience on ECW is limited to the ECW Rise & Fall DVD. That being said, the pay per view was probably one of the best I have witnessed in some time. Every match, with maybe one or two exceptions, were tremendous, and like Austin said, I nearly did overdose on violence.
I thought Psychosis removing his mask was almost surreal. It made me think that maybe Mysterio may do the same, but I wasn't surprised when he didn't. That match was a bit of a downer, and unfortunately, so was Benoit/Guerrero. I have to give Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka some major credit for their contest, especially since I never thought I would see Mike Awesome compete under the auspice of WWE ever again. Their match was off the chart. Personally, though, I loved the tag main event. Seeing the four men beat the high holy crap out of each other, with all the extra added elements, i.e., the bWo, Axl & Balls, and Kid Kash made the match even more enjoyable.
How big a pop did Sandman get for his entrance? Let's take out of consideration the fact that he looked as pregnant as Dawn Marie, and he appeared to be as trashed as a wino on 34th street, but the pop he got for his entrance was unreal. I witnessed that entrance live, and it was mind-blowing when I saw it live, I could only imagine in a bigger surrounding like Hammerstein, how insane it must have been.
Heyman may not make one appearance again on WWE television, but let's call a spade a spade. His promo/insults of Edge, Bischoff, & JBL was absolutely top notch. I couldn't stop laughing. I thought it was amazing.
Oh, and any respect I may have had for Bradshaw is absolutely gone. What the hell does the Blue Meanie have that has Bradshaw needs to beat him senseless that he leaves him bloody? Come on, let's call it down the middle. Bradshaw has some sort of grudge against Meanie, and honestly, it's got no place in the business, and JBL's conduct during the fight at the end of the pay per view was reprehensible.
Raw, Smackdown, & the Draft Lottery 2005
First, who can explain to me how in the name of the Good blankety blank blank did that Raw monday night get a 4.0 in the ratings? It was an absolute snore fest. I swear, I could not keep my eyes open throughout the damn show, even with the draft pick, when it finally was announced.
Now, on to other things, we got two Raw picks done, and one Smackdown pick. I know what the next Smackdown pick but I won't give it away for anyone who has not seen the spoilers and does not want to be surprised. Let's just say this. Outside of the John Cena to Raw pick, the draft has begun to take shape the way I had predicted in the past, specifically, from public knowledge, Angle & Shawn Michaels finding a way back toward each other, with Angle going to Raw, and the subsequent Wrestlemania rematch scheduled for Vengenance in Vegas.
Let's talk about Vengenance for a second. You would think with the additions of Kurt Angle and John Cena to a Raw roster, that the card should be one for the books. So, let's think about it for a second.
Edge vs. Kane Who here doesn't want to see this storyline blow up in Adam's face? Come on, Trish Stratus is a good heel female, if she's injured, then leave the divas (competitive ones), off the show until she can come back. Lita is a horrid heel, Edge is so obnoxious and pompous lately, and quite frankly, it makes me want to vomit, this whole marriage angle thing. It's ridiculous, it's petty, and it's moronic. What we need to see here, and as God as my witness, we better, is the Big Red Monster taking both of these obnoxious lab rats and turning them in to orange goo. If ANYTHING else happens outside of that, well, then Kane's character is ruined, and Edge continues his meteoric roll toward his money in the bank world title shot, which is just absolutely revolting to me.
Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels First concern, ring rust on Shawn Michaels's part. He has been inactive for some time, I believe rehabbing injuries. To be thrust immediately in to a pay per view match with Kurt Angle is dangerous, and I am sure they'll warm him up, but let's be truthful here, ring rust is still a possibility. Second, Angle's health. Is he truly 100%? Or is his neck slowly wearing him out? I won't try and forecast that one, but it is a concern that WWE better damn well be looking at carefully. Lastly, their match at Mania was very good, but long. A little too much hold for hold, and not a lot of storytelling, as far as my opinion would state on the Wrestlemania match between these two combatants. Hopefully, they'll step it up a notch here. If so, the match will be tremendous. If not, well, um, yawn.
WWE Championship - John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Christian Ok. This one does have potential. Christian, personally, does not belong in this match. He is not world title material. He is not ready to take that step. Jericho is, however. Jericho and Cena have the seedlings for a major league rivalry for some time down the road on Raw. This match, I hope will blossom that forthcoming feud. This triple threat will be difficult for Cena to overcome, but I think he will. Jericho I think is the most likely candidate to succeed Cena as WWE champion, but it's going to take some time, and hopefully, some wars to do so.
And one last thing, regarding the title picture, and the lack of a champion on Smackdown, well, here's my feeling on the issue....
World Championship: Hell in A Cell - Batista vs. Triple H Well, truth be truth, I gotta reply to this match like I did when it was signed.
Yawn.
Ok. Hell in a Cell is a major league match. No question. Any title contended for in Hell in a cell is a headline waiting to happen.
But....
it's Triple H, again.....in the cell, again......how many times have we gone down this road? Really? Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, you name it, the opponents are all there.
NOW, let's say this. If the match is planned differently, and there is some different spots during the match, then I will shut up, eat crow, and say I am wrong. But, I would suspect, and I would challenge anyone to prove me wrong, that we'll see the same spots, we'll see the same bumps, we'll see the same type of contest like we've seen all the other times Triple H has been in the cell. I pray to God that some way, some how, Batista will keep the belt. I really do. I don't want to see Triple H with the belt again just yet. He is in dire need of some character adjustment, quickly.
But, be that as it may, as I said previously, the title picture will be fixed following this pay per view, as I would believe the winner of the World title match will end up drafted to Smackdown. Why? It's the most likely way for the titles to be fixed, and still shake things up. Put the World title on Smackdown, and Smackdown gains some respectability back, instantly, regardless of a friday move or not. Any other way to fix the title picture would compromise what the draft lottery has already done from an impact perspective, and honestly, I don't think WWE wants that.
Smackdown, from the draft lottery, has lost a ton. Depending on what happens thursday, it may tip the scale back a little bit, but for right now, Raw is seriously top heavy in talent, and it shows how WWE is not very confident as to how Smackdown will fare when UPN switches it to fridays. I still stand by what I said following the John Cena draft pick. The brand extension is on its way to extinction. Sooner, rather than later. I'll talk more about Smackdown over the weekend when I write up a column for predictions for TNA Slammiversary.
It appears that a lot of the luchardores from ECW and old WCW are headed to Smackdown, with the Velocity lineup from this past week. If anyone did not read the spoilers, I would recommend checking out Velocity this week. I won't use names, but hopefully, that will be the beginning of some changes for the blue and white brand, because as I said previously, the Smackdown brand is hurting, big time, right now. It's almost on life support.
A personal thank you goes out to the boys at New York Sports Works for their kind gesture with me missing the Chris Jericho autograph signing. They got the WWE champion and new Raw superstar John Cena coming next week to sign autographs, and I *WILL* be there. Hopefully, if you're in the neighborhood, you'll check it out. Click here for more information.
For now, I'm done. I'll speak to you all over the weekend with predictions for TNA Slammiversary. Click here to drop me an email.
Kimosabe, Sumo?!?!?!?!?
Back To WrestleView.com
|
|
|
