|
|
|
Pro's from the Palace (#51) - Quest with da champ & Victoria plus more |
» Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
» On Sunday, October 9, 2005 at 11:26 AM EST
I got a few things I need to do, first and foremost, so let's get right down to work.
First, after speaking with my friend Dave from Scotland through some email, I need to amend a few of my picks for No Mercy. First and foremost, I will change my pick for the handicap match. I forgot that the match was a casket match, and I also forgot the fact that it's been leaked to the public about a potential buried alive match at Survivor Series. With those two aspects in mind, it's difficult to change my pick, since the Undertaker is the master of the casket match, but perhaps the Ortons figure out a way to change his luck, and eek out an upset victory. It's a difficult choice to make, but I will amend my pick and take the Ortons in an upset.
I also am going to change my pick, and say MNM figures out the LOD's number. I think Christy & Melina will cancel each other out, so based on that, I have to think that some how Mercury & Nitro figure out the puzzle that is Animal & Heidenreich, so that this can get pulled in to a title match for Survivor Series. There really is not any other team out there on the Smackdown roster that can provide a challenge to the tag team champions, and I would have to believe, honestly, that WWE will provide a tag team title match for a major pay per view. Well, that's what I would do, but I do remember Summerflop, so who knows?
Lastly, I guess Velocity had a cruiserweight battleroyale for a shot at Nunzio. So, the Mexicools have been brought out of mothballs for this one, with the Juice getting a shot at the champ. This one could get ugly in a big hurry, with the champ having Vito in his corner, and Juvi having Super Crazy and Psicosis in his. Numbers may make things very difficult for Nunzio to retain on this one, but I would really be shocked if Juvi could capture the title with little to no storyline prep work prior to the contest. Maybe some form of no contest goes down here to bring a feud in to the main program, and lead to another set of matches up to Survivor Series. I don't think that they'd change the title so quickly, even with the lack of storyline, and the lack of prestige this title has had since Mysterio dropped it last. London brought it in to the toilet, and it hasn't recovered since, i.e., when Nunzio won the title on VELOCITY. Has Velocity become the new cruiserweight title show?
Ok. Now that we got the business out of the way, thanks again to my buddy Dave from Scotland for correcting me, and now, time for new business.
ANOTHER TIME WITH DA CHAMP
I don't know how the man does it. He has a movie in post production, waiting for release. He has a CD he is still promoting with a myriad of appearances with his partner, signing CDs. He has a title which has been contested vehemently on Raw with the likes of Eric Bischoff, Chris Jericho, and Kurt Angle, and yet, he still manages to come off as being one of the nicest, down to earth professionals WWE has to offer.
Of course, I'm talkin' bout da champ, John Cena.
Friday night at Westfield Sunrise Mall, da champ and the Vicious Vixxen, Victoria, came to sign autographs from the faithful members of the chain gang. And, let's call it right down the center, the chain gang was in full force. It was a mad house in that place. I don't want to estimate because I'll probably be wrong, but 5 to 7 hundred people would not be too far off, I don't think. By 5pm, well before the start time, the line was around the entire length of the store, and practically engulfing the front door. It was two deep the entire length of this store, and it's an old Old Navy store, so you can imagine it's not small, by the time the champ and Victoria arrived.
Surprisingly, they arrived early, which I guess is predominant to the fact that they realized that friday night traffic in Long Island is less than pretty. When the champ came in to the autograph area, quite honestly, he was bum rushed by about 100 kids. I give Cena a tremendous amount of props and kudos for not totally losing his mind after being literally stampeded by 200 little feet. In all the times that I have seen this man, and all the other superstars of WWE throughout my quest, I have never seen a reaction like that. I commend the champ for being as professional as he was with all of them.
Now, a quick retrospective. The first time we saw John was back in January, in Howard Beach, Queens. When we did then, he was the ultimate in class, and demanded a polaroid be taken of my three kids and I when my youngest presented the replica US title I had just purchased, (correction, my wife had just purchased for me). When that happened, we knew we found a talent that we needed to see again. And then the beginning of the tradition commenced. The next few times, we had been fortunate to be first in line to meet the champ, and each time, he keeps commenting as to how whenever he is in the Long Island area, he always runs in to us as first in line. It's petty and ridiculous, I know, but hell, it's kind of nice to know that a celebrity of any stature can remember a common man's face, especially one like mine. Even Victoria remembered me from the past time I had the pleasure of meeting her, and that was some time ago, so I also have to extend some major league kudos her way as well.
I felt bad actually, speaking of Victoria, I didn't have any thing to sign for her. I already have a promo picture of the Vicious Vixxen in my gallery, and I didn't think I should update it, and I regret not doing it. I should have. Needless to say, she still took the time to say hello to me and my crew, and that's still impressive, even with the amount of people who were definitely here for da champ.
Anyway, I have to end this, because I am sounding incredibly redundant. So, let me say this. Anyone who is on Long Island needs to visit NewYorkSportsWorksInc.com and come in next time out and find me. I'd like to meet some of my readers on Long Island, and I think you guys would want to come out and meet who's coming in November. Check the site for the information, it's going to be up there soon.
And of course, a special thank you to the captain of the ship, Mr. Alex, and the rest of the crew over there for another positive experience. Check out their website, I guarantee you it is worth the time and effort.
Ok. On to more business.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Some random thoughts from da Palace to end piece #51. Man, I can't believe I have made it past the 50 mark. Hehehehehe.
Someone loses their job on monday night for Stone Cold's antics, and it's more than likely going to be Jim Ross. Now, I understand the need for a positive voice on the webcast of Raw if that is the way they're going to go down the pike, but losing Ross from the main broadcast is a mistake, in any sense of the word. Not to take away the fact that this storyline has been played out so many different times already that it's incredibly predictable, but you can't replace that experience, and that smooth continuity, even with the three man booth. I have not heard this guy from UFC that is rumoured to replace Ross, but anyone, you could get a hall of fame broadcaster from Cooperstown, and it wouldn't be the same. Ross is a necessary and NEEDED cog to the Raw broadcast, and losing him is a mistake, in every way.
Tonight's No Mercy card is extremely poor. While I respect the fact that talents like Ken Kennedy and Bobby Lashley need exposure, don't you think it would be worthwhile to give them more experience on Smackdown prior to pay per view matches? There was, like I said eariler, no prep work for Nunzio vs. Juvi, and there's no tag title match, again. How badly is WWE going to bury the tag team division before they realize that people like it?
Impact on Spike TV is a nice touch for TNA. I think it is going to work out in the end for the fledgling promotion, but there is a couple of things I have to say. I had difficulty watching Velocity because of the time slot, and staying up to watch Impact is no different. Hey, man, I'm not as young as I used to be. I saw the debut last week, and it was an impresive show, but it's a bit on the rushed side, #1, and there is so much more ambient noise that it is very difficult, almost impossible to hear the commentary of Mike Tenay and Don West. Needless to say, however, the talent is incredible, the matches are first rate, and I hope this is the beginnings of what would end up being another version of the monday night wars. God knows WWE needs it.
Couple of other TNA notes. I am thrilled that ROH veterans Roderick Strong and Austin Aries have joined TNA. It will do nothing but strengthen their talent roster, and give them less of the impression that they're only taking WWE washouts and drop offs. Hopefully, some more ROH talents will find their way to the TNA landscape. Jushin "Thunder" Liger on TNA is another coup for the company. His talent alone will provide some major buy rates for the Bound For Glory PPV, and if he's booked on the 10/25 eidition of Impact, then I will be there, on Spike TV, waiting very excitedly to see the Japanese legend.
I see Taboo Tuesday is out on the web. And they took off the promotion poster with John Cena & Kurt Angle, and instead have a pic of Eric Bischoff with tape over his mouth. That's not a bad idea, to say the least. Hopefully, the concept will be allowed to be fulfilled to the utmost extent, as that would be the best way to make this idea a success.
How quickly can Triple H take out his reception? The applause for him was deafening, and then the silence when he gave Ric Flair the bloodletting of a lifetime was eerie. I sincerely hope Flair can handle the intensity of this feud. It could be dangerous to a man of his experience.
Brock Lesnar wins the IWGP heavyweight title in Tokyo. Well, I guess a promotion and a title like the IWGP can be suckered in by a name with no class. Lesnar is a moron for not going back to WWE, whee he built his name. He obviously flopped in his attempt to get in to the NFL, and now he's going to go to Japan, and ruin that country's tradition of excellent competition? I think it sucks.
I wish I could've been at ROH in Manhattan recently when Kenta Kobashi competed. I read all the reviews, and thought it was tremendous. I am considering picking up the DVD when it comes out for "Orange Krush". We'll see how it goes. First things first on the ROH front, picking up the Glory By Honor IV DVD and then picking up my tix for November 19th.
It was a year ago at Taboo Tuesday when Shelton Benjamin became the Intercontinental champion. So many people had predicted a world title in Shelton's future. Man, where are those people now, as Shelton is languishing in Raw's mid card hell. I think the World's Greatest Tag Team may be reuniting, sooner, rather than later. Shelton's in trouble, and it's sad, because he can provide some class A matches, just ask Shawn Michaels.
Ok, that's it for now. Let's go Angels! Sorry, guys, a baseball note to end this wrestling piece.. Click here to drop me an email.
Kimosabe, Sumo!?!?!?!??!
Back To WrestleView.com
|
|
|
