Reported by Ben Hagen of WrestleView.com
On Sunday, June 4, 2006 at 4:05 AM EST

Hello my little darlings. Those of you expecting a review of Ring of Honor’s “Arena Warfare," I apologize. I recently ordered it, but you’ll probably have to wait until next week or so before that review comes through. I’ll want to watch it a few times, and considering my heavy reading and writing self-imposed schedule, I only have so much time to watch wrestling . . . which is “code" for “I’ll get to it when I damn well feel like it" and “I’m unemployed at the moment, lazy as hell, so be patient." With that out of the way, I have some thing that have been jumping around in my head that I thought I’d offer a few comments on concerning some recent developments in the world of Vince’s WWE. So without further ado:

A World on Wrestling

(1) Mr. Kennedy

Having not watched a great deal of WWE television this year (not because I’m on some kind of self-righteous boycott, just a matter of being forgetful or disinterested), I can’t say I’ve been very familiar with Ken Kennedy or his work. However, I recently watched a copy of his recent OVW Championship match against CM Punk (a board / internet favorite it seems) and was very impressed. I’m not sure if they had worked together before, but Kennedy pulled out some nifty counters to Punk’s maneuvers (and likewise). After a springboard cross body, Punk shook his arm as if he had injured it upon impact and Kennedy attacked it immediately afterwards with some pretty great looking arm work and a solid control segment. Punk’s comeback (with some pretty good – though possibly too contrived – adjustments due to his arm injury) was solid. Kennedy’s main offense looked good as he nailed a beautiful enziguiri and a nice Finlay Roll before Punk got the win with his Anaconda Vice (which I’m glad to see him using in place of the Pepsi Plunge – though he might still use that, I’ve no clue). Anyway, after watching this match I’ve got high hopes for Kennedy as he’s much more than just a solid, strong voice on the microphone. Put him in a match with some of the best on Smackdown’s roster, and I’d almost guarantee a really solid match.


(2) Heyman’s ECW Picks

Pick #1apparently Rob Van Dam; Pick #2 apparently Kurt Angle. Now am I the only one a little disappointed by Kurt Angle’s enthusiasm to go to ECW and his willingness to side with Paul Heyman? Angle’s killer “better than you" attitude at last year’s One Night Stand made for some of the best promo work of the night, and I think an anti-ECW heel Angle in the new ECW would be absolutely beautiful with the rabid, smaller crowds. With that in mind, I’m also interested in this “new vision" of ECW that Heyman has been spouting from behind the microphone. If Kurt Angle embodies what Heyman wants in his new ECW, what sort of other Angle-esque wrestlers can we expect to show up? Certainly Angle stands out among the characters we saw at last year’s ONS (excluding guys like Benoit or Guerrero). Who else will we see I’m curious? Though Angle certainly has problems in the ring that he has no intention of fixing (mostly over-the-top “fighting spirit adrenaline" type stuff . . . which isn’t always out of place . . . but can be), his intensity is clearly well suited for an ECW environment where work rate has never been much of an issue. Whether or not his body can hold up under the pressure of being the top guy in a promotion known for hard hitting and big bumps, this will be another issue.

Rob Van Dam on the other hand will be very at home I imagine. The man has rarely been injured in his career and maintains a flexibility that keeps him very healthy. Although his work in ECW is overrated in terms of quality by the Hardcore Loyal, one cannot deny the energy he brought to the ring. I wouldn’t mind a program between Angle and Van Dam in ECW, but I’m not so sure the sorts of matches they’d end up having would mean a whole lot for Angle’s longevity. We’ll see. Rob Van Dam was an obvious pick, but a good one nonetheless. As for whether or not he’ll defeat John Cena at One Night Stand or Sabu will defeat Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Title, I think it is very doubtful. What will they do for a title, then? Old style tournament? Somehow bring back Rhino? Award a title to Kurt Angle? Have a battle royal? We’ll see I imagine.


(3) Wrestlemania 22 DVD and Edits

I finally watched all of Wrestlemania. Some quick thoughts:

(a) The opening tag title match is much more entertaining than I thought it would be coming in. While it is certainly not very good, I’ve seen a lot of Wrestlemania matches that are far worse.

(b) Trish / Mickie James is quite decent in its own way. The WWE ladies still need that extra edge to their style, that is, that extra motivation to just hit the crap out of each without any regard for each other’s faces. Then they’d be on to something.

(c) The editing of the crowd during the HHH / John Cena match is horrible. Just absolutely horrible. I never even saw the original, but one can easily tell given JR and King’s reaction to what appears to be nothing. Big tsk tsk and thumbs down to the genius who thought this was a good idea. I can see editing out the “F*** you Cena!" chants. I don’t understand the rest. Boo. Hiss. Claw. Nails. Pluck out eyeballs sort of decision.

(d) With that said, the match is actually quite good. The actual work involved isn’t anything special, but the close proximity of the match to the actual characters of the two wrestlers made for one of the smartest main events I’ve seen in a long time. HHH truly looked like a veteran, looked like a favorite, while John Cena looked like an underdog showing that the Game took him too lightly. And a big middle finger to those who hate the STFU. I might not be the biggest Cena fan (in fact, I’m not much of one at all), but I won’t have anyone downing any variation of the Stepover Toehold Facelock.

(e) The triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Title is abysmal.

(f) HBK / Vince McMahon is too long but very entertaining. Vince McMahon’s character has been stretched to the breadth of insanity and I’m loving every minute of it. It can be too much sometimes, but one can’t deny the humor of Vince’s reaction while HBK is busy sticking his son’s head in his ass. His goofy waving arms and ridiculous smile is hilariously absurd.


(4) Best WWE Matches of 2006 Thus Far

From what I’ve seen thus far in the company, a lot of the best WWE matches this year have come from television (Smackdown specifically). Finlay is a guy to watch for. His matches with Rey Mysterio, Bobbie Lashley (specifically the semi-final KOTR match), and Chris Benoit (both the television and PPV matches) have been among the most fun matches (and, to be honest, best matches) in the company thus far this year. I’m a little disappointed that the crowd isn’t reacting to Finlay as negatively as I feel they should given how “on" he’s been in the ring, but we’ll see how long his run lasts and if the crowd can finally step-it-up with participation. With that said, I’d have to say that Chris Benoit’s recent stuff with William Regal (their recent match on Velocity) have really made me love both guys even more. They haven’t been up to par for me in recent years, but these matches show that in the right environment, they are still among the best in the world right now. Their match is just a tremendous short match that I hope everyone was able to catch. Although I’ve read a bit about Mysterio’s matches with Mark Henry and Randy Orton, I missed the Orton defense before his suspension and missed the Henry matches as well. Someday I might find them or get lucky with a DVD release that includes them, but until then my opinion on them is sadly missing for all of you interested readers. As hard as I am on Kurt Angle, his match (as I’ve written before) with Taker is quite good, possibly great. His matches with Mysterio have also been quite fun. As for RAW, I’m not exactly sure what I’d include as the best RAW match of the year. Cena / HHH from Mania is certainly a candidate (as is the triple threat match at Backlash involving Edge), but I’m having trouble coming up with more. Benjamin / Van Dam from Backlash was fun, but not that good, and my recent television viewing has been quite hit-and-miss. Realistically, I probably shouldn’t even be trying to come up with any. I’d be interested to hear what any of you might think.

Well that’ll about do it. My next column will probably be a review of ROH’s “Arena Warfare" show from 3/11/06. Until then . . . think . . . consider . . .