The State of Thursday Night Wrestling

Thursday night used to be a major theatre of battle in the Monday Night Wars. The WWF and WCW used to have their "B" shows on Thursday nights in a time when the "B" show was almost as much a main attraction as the big show they ran on Monday nights. The WWF lodged a major victory when they forced WCW's Thunder onto Wednesdays with the creation of Smackdown. Then, the CW moved Smackdown to Friday nights in the last few years.

However, that was far from the end of wrestling for the second to last day of the workweek. TNA decided that it would air its flagship television show, Impact, on Thursday nights. The WWE has also reentered the field recently with its relaunching of the Superstars franchise. Each company has left a mark on Thursday night, but it's not necessarily a good one.

In one corner, we have Impact, where the running gag is counting how many minutes of wrestling there are on the program. The problems of TNA have been documented here, and we all know what the fix is. The problem is that there are no fewer than three egomaniacal idiots at the helm there who don't know the problem is right in front of them.

And granted, 25 minutes of wrestling is probably 5 to 10 minutes fewer than what you'd find on one of the WWE's flagship programs. However, with the WWE, you don't need to count the minutes because you're at least going to be getting quality for the most part (until you get to the finish, that is). It doesn't feel like 30 minutes. It feels like you're watching a wrestling show, not some convoluted TV drama that tangentially is about wrestling.

In the other, it's Superstars, which has a very cobbled-together feeling to it. It's like they just wanted to have more market exposure, more time on TV because they could, another outlet to let everyone know what happened on RAW the other night. The wrestling is good most of the time at least, but the whole program just feels disjointed. Each brand has its own commentators call the matches exclusive to it. One of the selling points was that this is the one show where the brand split didn't matter, and we could see inter-brand exhibition matches so to speak, but for now, it's just been plain-jane intrabrand matches for the most part. It just feels like we're getting the outtakes from all three brand shows.

In order for Superstars to really take hold, the WWE has to take the opportunity to make it special. Let's face it, WGN isn't really the widest-released network out there. The WWE has to create a buzz that will get wrestling fans not only talking, but demanding that their carriers pick WGN up. I'm not just talking about match quality either. It's already there for the most part. They need to give the show its own identity. They need to give it announcers, clean production and maybe even its own exclusive interview segment. Making it a recap show doesn't do anything for it, especially since it's head to head with the promotion that wants so badly to be competition. The WWE has the chance to really shame TNA and show it how it's done. Why they wouldn't do that is beyond me.

So, that begs the question - where has Thursday night wrestling gone?

Truth be told, Thunder was never really critically acclaimed. Even when Nitro was pulling huge numbers and getting raves, Thunder always felt like an afterthought. Smackdown, however, has had stretches where it was must-see TV, especially in the Paul Heyman-booked "Smackdown Six" era, where Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, Edge and Eddie and Chavo Guerrero put on a spectacle every week.

So while Monday and Tuesday remain nights where most wrestling fans can't wait to tune in, Thursday night, once a hotbed, is now relegated to nearly forgotten status, where a second rate fed's flagship competes with the big dog's "D" show.

Quite the far way to fall for a night that was once an important one in the scheme of the business.

The Best Moves Ever: Cattle Mutilation

First up, Taz did post answers to questions he got on Monday, but there was nothing really newsworthy. If you're on Facebook, look him up.

Secondly, if you notice, I added a new sidebar to the links section, featuring cool non-wrestling or tangentially related to wrestling. There are links to PTC (which is long overdue since Ross has most graciously created an RSS feed for this blog in their wrestling forum), some sports blogs I like and Sean Morley/Val Venis' libertarian blog, where he also talks about wrestling from time to time. If you're interested in having content on the sidebar, please let me know. I will review the site you have, and if I like it, it'll go over on the side. This goes for wrestling and non-wrestling material alike. However, I ask that you don't really give suggestions for stuff that's wildly popular. I could have put links up there to ICanHasCheezburger or ThisIsWhyYou'reFat, but really, everyone knows what they are. I'm more into getting written content there, be it funny, witty, thought-provoking or just plain good.

Alright, now that that's over, it's onto the meat of the post! Again, this is coming directly from YOUR feedback! That's why you leave comments, I do respond to them!

Submissions are sometimes put on the backburner because they can't really be hit suddenly like an impact finisher. Part of what makes the Diamond Cutter, Rock Bottom, Sweet Chin Music, RKO and even the Codebreaker such over finishers is that they can be hit with very little set-up, with an air of suddenness. Still, many hardcore wrestling fans love the submission finisher because it represents the culmination of an entire match of work, of build, especially from a master wrestler. They drip of old-school dredging memories of Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Sting and Ted DiBiase to the surface of our wrestling consciousness.

While impact finishers are definitely more common, the submission finisher is not dead, not by a long shot. Many wrestlers in the bigs rely on tried and true finishing submissions as either their primary or secondary tap-out holds. However, you can find some of the most innovative, creative and downright impossible-looking submission holds. To me, the king of these holds comes from Bryan Danielson, arguably the hottest and most talented wrestler on the indie circuit today. His submission finisher is called Cattle Mutilation. It's an upper-body submission with a lot of athleticism and balance involved. Take a look:



It's almost like a throwback to the old full nelson with a great modern twist put on it. Personally, I have no freaking idea how Danielson keeps the move locked in for the durations of time that he does, but he does. Even if you don't think it looks like it hurts (the way he applies it makes it look like the most painful thing ever to me... mark of a great wrestler!), you have to give him mad props for being able to perfect a move as crazy and cool looking as that is.

I'm going to Dragon Gate USA's premiere event

Yep, as the title says, I bought my tickets this morning to the debut event for Dragon Gate USA. I'm psyched, especially now that 2 Cold Scorpio was one of the first guest names announced for the show. Of course, when the show happens, I'll give it a first-rate review.

Also, so as not to post about purchasing tickets, here's a funny picture I found on my travels along the Internet. This is a parody WWF logo from With Leather, a humorous sporting blog that from time to time will post about wrestling-related stuff. Here it is:



I don't know why, but I can't stop laughing at it. Hope you guys get the same effect from it!

The Best Moves of All-Time: Total Elimination

Ah yes, this one is directly in response to your chatter to feature tag moves and submission moves. This is quite possibly the best double-team finisher ever, and it's definitely my favorite. Total Elimination, done by John Cronus and Perry Saturn, the Eliminators. You don't need the set up. You just need to watch it:



My only regret is that I couldn't find a high quality vid of the move with Joey Styles going apoplectic saying the name of it. To me, that's what made the move. Styles really was the best in the earlier days of ECW. When they gave him Cyrus, and when he went to the 'E... basically, when he had to work with someone rather than calling by himself, his quality went down.

A Warrior's Death (MVP/Orton)

Last night's RAW was a perfect example of what NOT to do with a rising star within the company. For those who didn't watch, Randy Orton came out to celebrate his title win over Triple H that came a month too late, in my opinion, and he basically said that RAW was his show and everyone answered to him. MVP came out and refuted that, cutting the best face promo I've seen in 2009 thus far. Vickie Guerrero then made the match, MVP vs. Orton. The match was great. The crowd was really into it, and they were into MVP specifically. Orton was selling fantastically for MVP as well, and again, the improvements in his wrestling showed again, as this was a great match...

...a great match until Orton dumped MVP over the top rope, never to be seen again during the affair, and Shane McMahon came out to shake his graying hair and flab all over the ring like he thought he was 20 years younger.

My angst towards the McMahon family and their spotlight hogging aside, there were two huge, gaping problems with that scenario last night. The first one was similar to the complaint I had with Jericho/Cena last week on RAW, when Edge ran out and caused a cheap DQ finish after a magnificent almost 15 minute match. To end a great match like that with the Pillsbury Doughboy coming in to get his revenge on Orton is like giving the entire viewing audience blue balls.

The biggest problem though is the way they handled MVP. They virtually buried him. It's one thing to lose the match. It's another thing to lose the match via DQ and not be seen at all during the post-match after not even figuring into the decision at all. This isn't a new problem with the WWE though.

Last year, they had Triple H and Kennedy take on the entire ECW roster as punishment for crossing then-GM William Regal. It was competitive, but in the end, Kennedy ate a frogsplash and a pinfall from Chavo Guerrero. That would have been fine if they left it there, but Kennedy rolled out of the ring, never to be seen again, while Triple H just shit on the entire ECW roster, destroying everyone by himself except Kane, only succumbing to Orton. Again, aside from the obvious problems of the WWE only caring about the tippy-top of stars here, they missed out on an opportunity to put Kennedy hugely over by having him help Trips at the end. The even better finish and post-match would have been Kennedy eating the fall, Trips and Kennedy fending off ECW but ultimately succumbing to numbers, and then Orton coming out and rubbing salt in Trips' wounds like the vulture he was.

The same thing could have applied to MVP here in a different application. How hard would it have been to have MVP job clean after a very, very hard fought battle with the kayfabe best in the company? I'm telling you right now that it wouldn't have hurt MVP one bit. Why? Because the concept of the "warrior's death" comes into play here. No, it's not a reference to the theory that there were multiple Ultimate Warriors because they kept dying (although some may wish Jim Hellwig would just die already... that's tangential though).

Basically, the concept refers to a face battling hard against all odds, be it numbers, talent, whatever. He/she fights and fights and fights some more, and at some point, it looks like he/she is going to win the match. However, something causes their undoing, be it cheating, numbers, a fatal flaw, whatever, and they end up losing admirably, with honor and in a way that endears them to the crowd and gives the person losing a rub. In movies, the direct correlation is with 300. In wrestling, the two best examples I can think of are WrestleMania XIII, where Bret Hart beat Steve Austin, but Austin got a huge rub from the crowd because he never gave up and fought til the end, and at the Royal Rumble 2003, when Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit in one of the hardest fought and best matches in the 'E of the decade, and the crowd gave Benoit a standing O after the loss.

That's what they could have and should have done with MVP. They laid the ground work during the match. He definitely had control of the affair enough to be able to hit his "Ballin'" spot, and he hit Orton with a few of his signature moves, most notably that sick-ass yakuza kick that he does in the corner. The better finish to me would have been MVP going for his finisher, but Orton flash countering it with the RKO and getting the win. Then, for MVP's insolence, Orton lines up a punt when all of a sudden, Shane McMahon makes the save. Priceless comes out and then you have Legacy brawling with both MVP and the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Now tell me, wouldn't that have been an insanely more satisfying end to the match than what happened?

The GoAT Files: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

As promised, here's the GoAT File for A1 Cup winner, Steve Austin:

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin


Pros: Arguably the biggest star of the late '90s wrestling boom, Vince McMahon's first bona fide domestic draw since Hulk Hogan, changed the way heels and faces would be viewed in the time since he broke on the scene

Cons: Time on top shortened by injuries

There were very few things certain in the WWF in the late '90s. One of them, was almost infallible. When the glass broke, you knew it was going to be entertaining.

While WCW was busy stealing the WWF's thunder with the nWo and all the craziness surrounding it, McMahon had to scramble to find something to match it and retake his spot on top of the national wrestling mountain, a spot he had held since he took his company national in the mid-80s. When he did, he got there on the back of Hulk Hogan, the magnetic, all-American, superhero-like man who seemed larger than life. He was the perfect vehicle to take the company to the top with the target crowd - families, the kids who wanted someone to believe in and the parents who wanted their kids to have a good role model.

But then, the steroid scandals hit, and there was a paradigm shift in what kids wanted to occupy their times. The WWF was hit hard domestically, although anchored by Bret Hart and the smaller but more athletic workers of the day, they were still a hit with the overseas crowds. But then, WCW debuted the nWo, and young males started watching Turner's company. While WCW and Eric Bischoff relied on WWF castoffs to make his name, McMahon went in the same direction he did with the first push. He was going to go with a singular person to be his workhorse.

His first choice was Triple H. Thankfully for us, he was punished for breaking kayfabe in the middle of the ring with all his departing buddies. Luckily for Austin, he got that push and never looked back. It started at King of the Ring 1996:



"Austin 3:16 says I just whupped your ass!"

Instead of targeting families, McMahon decided he was going to go after the young male demographic too. He was going to make his new star into a cocky, authority-defying, cursing, beer-swilling rebel, which was the exact kind of thing that young males gravitate towards for the most part. Hell, the rebellious nWo was getting as many cheers as they were boos in their role as WCW's ultimate heel faction. Luckily for him, McMahon's approach was more successful in the long run than WCW's. Of course, overbooking, egos, politics, shitty announcing and lack of internal consistency helped hasten WCW's ratings demise, but still, the force of Austin was a huge one in the late 90s.

However, it's not like Austin just came out of nowhere. He showed signs of greatness when he himself was in WCW. Teamed with Brian Pillman as the Hollywood Blondes, Austin was garnering national attention as one of the rising stars of the business. He was all over the Apter mags' "Up-and-Coming" features. It seemed everyone saw something in the future Texas Rattlesnake... except Bischoff, who thought Austin to be bland and a bad fit for the direction of his company.

So as you see, a lot of things had to have gone right for both McMahon and Austin, two men inexorably linked in time as the saving grace of the WWF in the late 90s. Was it destiny? Was the events breaking just as they had a force that not even Hulk Hogan could stop? Or did McMahon's Irish heritage just net him a good amount of good luck? Who knows, but the end result was Austin.

Of course, there are detractions from his case. People, myself included, have said that Austin's character was very heavily influenced by Sandman, a guy who was over HUGE in ECW. Austin spent time there, and it was well-known that while the relationship between the WWF and ECW was adversarial on the surface, deep down, both McMahon and Paul Heyman knew that working together on certain things would benefit each company more than being islands unto themselves. However, where I think Austin totally transcended Sandman was in terms of promo ability, personality and workrate. For one, Austin was perhaps the best promo in the business until the WWF let Dwayne Johnson be himself on the stick rather than play some dorky, 3rd generation schmoe. It also helped that he really wasn't playing a character when he assumed the edgier aspects of Sandman's gimmick. And of course, Austin had always been one of the top workers in the world, and could naturally wrestle circles around Sandman.

Even after his neck started deteriorating to the point of forced retirement, thanks to an Owen Hart piledriver gone awry, Austin still could give you quality in the ring. While he couldn't exactly wrestle anymore, he could still brawl with the best of them. In fact, it's no stretch to say that Austin was the best brawler the WWF/E has ever had, and that his credibility appearing as a redneck roughneck was key to his entire gimmick.

Of course, having one of the most over finishers of all time helped too.

At the end of the debate, it's pretty hard not to put Austin in the top four, along with Hogan, Ric Flair and The Rock. It's also not all that far-fetched to put him at number one. While Hogan and Flair have longevity and Rocky arguably had more charisma and better workrate, Austin's influence, drawing power and overall personality make it hard to argue most wrestlers over him. It's a shame that he got hurt the way he did, because the WWE could use a guy like him right now on one of their brands. John Cena is a bona fide star, but he can only be on one brand for most of the year. Whatever brand he's not on suffers, because the next best things they have are either so not over as a face (Triple H... who from all reports got the "na na na na hey hey hey good bye" chant from the Backlash crowd last night) or keep getting their credibility submarined because of size (Rey Mysterio).

No matter what camp you were in in the late 90s or what you consider your favorite era now, you can't deny what Steve Austin has meant to the wrestling industry. Only the blindest fools would deny him his place in the pantheon of the squared circle's historical elite. This beer's for you, Steve.

Chikara and Dragon's Gate USA announce partnership

Courtesy of Gabe Sapolsky's Facebook

Details

Not surprising, but very, very cool no less.

Had a very rough weekend, hence the lack of updates. Everything's fine, just had a lot of work to do. I'm also not watching Backlash, but if it sounds good, I'll order the replay, or watch it on the sly using dubious means. GoAT Files for Austin should come tomorrow.

From the Archives: Harley Race vs. Mil Mascaras... in Japan?!?

Harley Race was the Original King of Wrestling. Mil Mascaras was arguably the most important figure in lucha libre history. On September 11, 1980, they faced off in an All-Japan Pro Wrestling ring for Race's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Let's take a look:

Part 1


Part 2


A few things stick out to me. One is how goofy Harley Race would look in today's landscape. He's a big, barrell-chested, flabby roughneck. In today's game, the only guys who can seem to pull that look off are the Samoans and Bubba Ray Dudley. However, while Race would seem like a fish out of water, I think more guys like him would be a refreshing change. The toughest guys at bars aren't always the pretty-boy muscleheads. Just because you lift weights doesn't mean you know how to handle yourself. It's a shame Vince McMahon can't seem to see that.

The next thing that sticks out is how liberal the ref is in this match. Before he calls it at a double countout, he allows a table to be thrown into the ring, for Race and Mascaras to use a steel chair (that Mascaras actually puts through Race's head in one of the best spots of the match) and allows them to use the ring bell as a weapon. It's almost like AJPW was a forerunner to ECW... Hmm...

Another thing was how both guys seemed to play the heel in the match. Even though Mascaras had the crowd support, he was acting up his rudo side a bit during the affair, and of course, Race was in full on heel mode. I thought it was a nice change in dynamic from what we normally see. It's usually face/heel or face/face, since the aim is to have the crowd invested in the match somehow. I guess in this match, it really didn't matter since it was clearly pro-Mil from the start.

Anyway, I thought it was a good match. Mascaras pulls out some pretty sweet high-flying stuff, including a plancha to Race on the outside that looked cool for its time. I have to admit it took me awhile to really get into what Race was doing, because he did look a bit awkward, but once he got going, he looked every bit the HoFer that he's reputed to be. While I would have enjoyed a pinfall in the ring, I thought the way the match was going, a double countout worked. I also enjoyed the hell out of Mascaras and Race in a Mexican standoff with those steel chairs post bell. If anything, both men were showmen in their day.

Who was the biggest star of the last 15 years?

When talking about the guys that really shaped the industry in its history, it's easy to highlight the big names. Buddy Rodgers and Bruno Sammartino laid the groundwork to turn the WWWF, a viable, important regional promotion, into the juggnaut WWF, the national promotion that changed the way the game was played forever. Without Hulk Hogan, it's arguable that wrestling would never have become as big as it did. Without a guy like Ric Flair, the regions might have completely died in the interim period between the WWF's emergence and the formation of WCW by Turner Networks.

Since then, who has been the guy? It can be argued that with the death and rebirth of mainstream professional wrestling, the individual has been phased out and groups of people (nWo) or ideas and booking styles ("Attitude"/Crash TV) took center stage. To use a football analogy, it's like arguing that a team can insert any player into a certain system and still get the same results.

To think like that, however, would be to sell short some of the magnificent personalities in the era, to sell them very short in my opinion. Much like previous eras, the current span in wrestling history has been shaped by personalities, by actual wrestlers. You could make a case for a handful of them, but to me, it comes down to a debate between two men.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

The Rock.

Oddly enough, that's the final matchup in the A1 Cup Tournament, a kayfabe-styled, poll-based tourney pitting 256 former and current World Champions, US/IC level Champions and Hall of Famers against each other in single-elimination, March Madness-style. There could have been better matchups than this, but I think for a board where most of the fans skew younger and have the glory days of 1997 through 2001 in their minds mixed with the right proportions of freshness and nostalgia, it was expected and, in my mind, deserving.

Once you get down to the final two, that's where the debate begins. Who was more influential? Who was more important? Who made a bigger impact? Austin came first, and actually, his rise began way back in the early part of the decade in WCW, where he was teamed up with future rival Brian Pillman. This third incarnation of the Hollywood Blondes team showed flashes of the star power that both men had in them before they split up. Post breakup, Austin held the US Championship, but got injured and was fired by Eric Bischoff. Bischoff claimed that he didn't think Austin was all that marketable. I bet he kicked himself several times since then.

After a stint in ECW, Austin debuted in the WWF with the failed Ringmaster gimmick before hitting gold as the Texas Rattlesnake. Let's see, the gimmick foisted on a talented wrestler by a generally uncreative "creative" department failed, whereas playing himself got him INSANELY OVER with the crowd? Where have we seen that before... hmmm.

Aaanyway, Austin's influence on wrestling was the popularization of the "cool heel" styled face and the shift in demographic focus from children to young adults. After adopting the Stone Cold persona, Austin acted like a classic heel would. He disrespected authority, cursed, flouted religion and generally played by his own rules. He was the kind of guy that parents didn't want their children to have any part of, but he connected so much with rebellious teenagers and, in his feud with Vince McMahon, young guys whose biggest non-sexual fantasy in life was to kick the boss' ass that it was natural he was over as a crowd-favorite so much. Austin set the new face archetype so emphatically that even today, guys like Triple H and John Cena are still doing things that would have made 1988 Hulk Hogan cringe to get cheers from the crowd.

Austin's biggest drawbacks were his relatively short active time in the peak of his career. It wasn't exactly his fault; the piledriver is a dangerous move to execute safely. Neither Austin nor Owen Hart can really be blamed for the botch, but it's a sad reality. Another thing that wasn't exactly Austin's fault but should at least be mentioned is the proliferation of "wrestler vs. authority" storylines after the success of his feud with McMahon. Again, that is more lazy writing and the tendency for companies to repeat storylines that worked like it was a dead horse to beat.

Let's look at The Rock now. Like Austin, he had a huge fanbase, drew a ton of money for the WWF and was saddled with a shitty gimmick at the start of his career, only getting over after he was... YOU GUESSED IT, allowed to be himself. Unlike Austin, Rock's mainstream pro career was contained within the confines of the WWF from beginning to end. Whereas Austin revolutionized a character archetype, Rocky revolutionzed the way promos were cut and interviews were conducted.

Pre-Rock, it really wasn't in vogue for faces to be snarky, sarcastic, wry or to debase other wrestlers. That was heel territory. However, once Rocky came to the forefront, he was too witty, too funny and too charismatic to be booed by most fans. Sure, he was far easier to turn heel because he could effectively make a crowd hate him through things he'd say, but everyone respected him for his animal charisma. He made it okay for faces to be sarcastic. Hell, it's the reason why Chris Jericho has to be all serious business and cynical to get a heel reaction, because if he were doing what he'd been doing all along in his career, he'd get cheers, no matter whom he was facing. And hell, arguably the biggest star in wrestling today, John Cena, almost blatantly does a Rocky impersonation sometimes, when he's not all serious.

Also like Austin, Rock's career was shortened. Again, unlike Austin, his career was shortened by choice rather than by circumstance. Then again, if you had the choice between working 200 days a year and taking bumps like a madman at a good but not spectacular (by celebrity standards, that is), or working a relaxed schedule and letting stuntment take all the lumps at a much higher salary per film... well, what would you choose? Exactly.

So after thinking about the cases for both guys, who's the better choice? Today, I say it's Austin by a hair. Ask me tomorrow, and the answer might be different. Both guys were so instrumental in getting the WWE ahead in the Monday Night Wars, changing the landscape of wrestling in general and defining roles for future stars in the business. At the end of the debate, you can only say one thing with any certainty.

Wrestling would a lot more fun right now if both guys were still around, healthy, active and putting on great spectacles for all of us wrestling fans.

Gabe Sapolsky speaks about Dragon Gate USA

Via his MySpace blog

It's mostly a puff piece, but he does lay out the foundation for what DGUSA is going to be. Six shows a year with a "revolving door of all star talent"? Sounds like a good way for DG to expand into the States without overextending itself in this economy. I have high hopes.

Jeff Hardy to leave the WWE?

Linked from the A1 boards where the report from PWInsider was reposted

Thanks to A1 poster Zandrax for reposting the report from Scherer's Spyware Site.

Anyway, this report surprised me when I first heard it yesterday, mainly because Jeff Hardy has just come off the biggest push of his life. Why he'd want to walk away from that now doesn't make sense, until you realize that Hardy has taken the most risks in the WWE in the last decade by far and that his body is probably in the same shape of a normal wrestler in his 40s. This would also explain why Matt Hardy has been so dominant in their feud, and why Hardy was chosen to be fed to the Big Show on last week's Smackdown.

This is a huge blow for the WWE, as Hardy has to be one of the three most over babyfaces on the roster. His merch sells like crazy, especially to the younger kids that the 'E is trying to cater to, and his overall match quality is usually praised for its entertainment value, even if at times it's just spots thrown together. I thought Hardy did a good job of shedding that criticism lately, learning to work some good pacing and timing into his matches rather than just going spot-to-spot.

If anything positive can come out of this, it could be a blessing in disguise for one of the "on-the-cusp" guys like Kofi Kingston, Christian or even Jeff's brother Matt. Although it sucks to have to lose a main eventer, when one door closes, another one opens.

What I hope isn't the case is Jeff leaving the company so he can go back to doing drugs without fear of recourse from the company's Wellness Program. While by all accounts he's cleaned his act up, it's hard to stay clean. Here's hoping that he does just that, stays clean.

Instant Feedback: Cena/Jericho

Can I get an "amen" from people who hate it when they see a well-wrestled, dramatic match end in a pointless, flash DQ?

*pauses for the congregation*

Thank you. Cena against Jericho should have been a Match of the Year candidate. It was looking like one up to the finish. I mean, both guys were hitting their spots. The crowd, which was dead for most of the night except to tell Steamboat that he still had it, was alive, electric and doing the classic Cena split. For once, the action in the ring felt like it matched up with the narrative from Cole and King (it being Jericho's final RAW match at least for a year). IT felt epic.

And then Edge came out and just interrupted what was shaping up as one of the year's signature spots.

Great, thanks WWE. Thanks for giving me the wrestling equivalent of blue balls. I know you have to build to the PPV, but couldn't it have waited until after the match was over? For Edge to either Pearl Harbor a victorious Cena or to kick a defeated Cena after he was down?

This is one of the WWE's biggest problems, one of the lingering ones from the Russo Era. They don't know how to consistently give quality finishes, especially on free TV. It's so sporadic the quality of a match finish, and usually, the more satisfying ones are found on ECW. But if you're going to give me a PPV quality match on free TV, go all out and give me a PPV quality finish. Otherwise, just make it a going-through-the-motions clusterfuck and give me the DQ finish there.

Do not go to PWInsider.com

If you want to get wrestling news, do not go to PWInsider.com. I tried going there to pick up on a very hot news tip, and the site tried to install harmful files to my computer. It's littered with ads anyway, and it'll severely slow down the running speed of your computer. If you want news, stick with Meltzer or wait for the WWE or TNA to release it on their sites. I'd like to recommend the Torch too, but from memory, they've been infested with adware as well.

As for the hot news tip, I'll wait for Meltzer or the WWE site to report it before I echo it here. I don't want to report it in case it's part of a current angle or the result of very shoddy reporting.

The Best Moves of All-Time: Swiss Death

Another foray into the world of indie wrestling, this installment features current independent darling Claudio Castignoili. CC has a bunch of moves in his arsenal, but one of the trademarks is the European uppercut. It has gotten him so much acclaim that he, Dave Taylor and Bryan Danielson made it their team's theme at Chikara's King of Trios. Like DDP and his Diamond Cutter, Castignioli can hit a EuroCut from anywhere, but his deadliest variant is easily the Swiss Death. Rather than describe it, I'll show it to you:



Sweet move. I've been growing more and more partial to well-done strike finishers lately. Stuff like Sweet Chin Music, the classic Spear (read, Goldberg's), uraken, etc. Swiss Death isn't as simply set up as those moves, but among the new hybrid grapple strikes (Go 2 Sleep, Go 2 Cheech, etc.), it's one of, if not THE best.

The GoAT Files: Ricky Steamboat

As Ricky Steamboat Week draws to a close, it's time to examine his case as being the best of all time. It is an interesting one, even if on the surface there seem to be plenty of guys who out-class him.

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat


Pros: Considered one of the great techincal wrestlers of all-time, very reliable babyface, indispensible rival for Ric Flair and Randy Savage

Cons: Relatively short career, not a proven top draw

If there was one constant about Ricky Steamboat, it's that no matter what, you could have counted on him to give you a primo match in the ring, regardless of the opponent. In fact, in his prime, he could have wrestled a ten-pound sack of potatoes. Dave Meltzer would have given it three stars, and no one would argue it. You could go to any year that Steamer was active and put at least one or two of his matches on the MOTY list. His athleticism and versatility made him a good opponent for anyone.

However, the eternal argument against him was that he was never a top draw or featured attraction anywhere he went. He was always a foil for Flair rather than the guy who'd defeat him and rule the roost. In the WWF, he arrived at the time that Hulk Hogan was king and when the ascent of Randy Savage was imminent. Even in his later years, instead of being put at the top of the WCW heap with Sting, Lex Luger, Flair, Vader and Ron Simmons, he was used as a vehicle to get Steve Austin and Brian Pillman over when he got injured. Many would argue to be considered the greatest, or to at least be a part of the conversation, shouldn't you have to be a draw?

Well, while one can argue that it was Flair that made Steamboat, could you really discount the theory that the reason Flair got so big was because he had Steamboat to push him, that the fans weren't just coming to see whether their top regional babyface could topple Flair, but because they were emotionally invested in the Dragon's decade-long quest to wrest the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from the Nature Boy? It was proven that not just anyone could challenge Flair and draw doing it. Case in point - Ronnie Garvin.

It could also be argued that Steamboat was well on his way to megastardom in the WWF at the time right after he beat Savage for the Intercontinental Championship. Some conspiracy theorists will claim that Hulk Hogan was becoming rather paranoid about the ultimately charismatic and technically gifted Steamboat taking his spot and shoving Hogan out of the limelight and into smaller pay days, and that was the reason why Steamer jobbed the IC title so shortly after winning it to Hogan's crony, Honky Tonk Man (who is, by the way, my pick for most undeserving push EVER). Steamer taking a hiatus to be with his wife during the birth of their first child, people claim, was the convenient front.

I admit, I kinda believed in the Hogan hype just because of how seedy a business wrestling is and about how paranoid guys get about their spots. I e-mailed Meltzer for analysis on the situation, and here was his take:

It wasn't even punishment. Steamboat wanted to take a few months off and while they weren't happy about it, because he was off, he had to drop the title. Hogan had nothing to do with it. BUT, they would never push him to that level again because they didn't like that he left when he was a headliner.

Okay, so now this goes from a case of backstage politics to one of ethics. You take two sides, one that favors the business and one that favors family.

Whichever way you do look at it, Steamboat did have a chance to make it to the top of the WWF. If I were a betting man, I'd say that he would have been the one pegged to win the WWF Championship at WMIV instead of Savage had he not left the way he did. Would history have been different if that happened? Would he still be around today? Would his resumé have been stronger? That is a lot of hypothetical wondering, and usually, if you have to ask the question "What if?" too much for a guy, he probably doesn't deserve the consideration.

Still, there is something to be said about being the best at your craft. I fully believe Steamboat belongs in the discussion because he was arguably the best full-on wrestler from his era and that he was arguably in the top two all-around babyfaces from the era (along with Hogan). While drawing and making money are big parts of the equation, you can't discount what happens in the ring. When it came down to what happened in the ring, Steamer was arguably the best.

Look at the match resumé. Look at how many quality bouts he's had with various amounts of opponents on various stages. He gave it all and entertained whether it was a house show in Bumfuck, Indiana or on the biggest stage of them all, WrestleMania III in what was one of the top three WM matches of all time against Savage. He connected with fans everywhere he went, and he was a guy that was impossible to root against.

That's why Steamer belongs in the discussion, despite the fact that he was never the draw that he could have been.

Taz on leaving the WWE

Via his Facebook page

If you're a fan of bridges being burnt and dirt being dished, don't click that link. Taz was very professional and gracious about his exit from the WWE. He thanked a bunch of people, including the McMahons, and put over fellow announcers Joey Styles (duh), JR and Michael Cole.

The most interesting thing here is that he confirms that he's not wrestling anymore. I think it's a good choice. He's been out of the ring for several years and he's had neck problems. He's carved a niche as an announcer. I hope he takes those talents and goes to someplace like ROH rather than to the obvious choice of TNA.

From the Archives, Steamboat Week Edition: vs. Bret Hart, Boston Garden 3/8/86

In yesterday's post about the what ifs surrounding the Steamer, I pondered what kinds of matches he could have had with the superstars of the mid-to-late 90s. The fact is that he had previews of such encounters before being put on the shelf for nearly good. We all know about his feud with Steve Austin in WCW, but did you know that he had at least one match with Bret Hart during his WWF run in the mid-80s? This match takes place at Boston Garden. Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes are on commentary, and Hart is in full heel mode. He's still managed by Jimmy Hart here.

It's very weird seeing the Hitman in full classic heel mode. When he was a heel in the late 90s, he was rule abiding for the most part, and of course he had become embedded in his Five Moves of Doom offense that made him famous or infamous, depending on whom you ask. However, in this match, Hart is rocking the methodical, stone-handed heel offense, beginning with a "Pearl Harbor" attack on the Hawaiian Steamboat.

The Dragon himself is in classic mode, having Hart on the defensive most of the early going with his kinetic aerial and karate based offense. He works the left arm of Hart with great care during this stretch, although it really doesn't factor into the finish, which is a classic Steamboat finish - the underdog Dragon gutting out a win with a counter.

The announcing for me was a mixed bag. On one hand, you have Monsoon, who shines here. I forgot how good he was at calling a match. He knew how to strike a balance between calling the action in the ring and getting the surrounding storylines over. Mike Tenay, Josh Matthews and even Michael Cole could stand to learn a thing or two from Monsoon's demeanor, pacing and timing. Of course, none of the guys I mentioned could have the sort of presence that Monsoon had, mainly because Monsoon had a loud, booming voice and the other three guys are kinda shrimp-voiced. Still, it doesn't hurt to study the best.

On the other, Hayes... well, I don't want to call him bad, but he was kinda plain, generic, a little boring. I would rather have had Jimmy Hart be on guest commentary the whole match, although you can hear him yap on his megaphone. The heel manager is such a lost art, and there are plenty of guys today who could benefit from it, like Shelton Benjamin for one. Ah, but I digress.

I think the thing that stands out for me most in this match is how the body slam is an integral offensive move and how it gets countered. You never see anyone counter a body slam anymore unless it's a smaller guy trying to slam a superheavyweight. It's the small things that I miss, but I can't really complain about the in-ring product today for most of the promotions out there.

Anyway, enough analysis, here's the match. Enjoy!

Part 1:


Part 2:

Quick Hits

- I find the less I say about the Supplemental Draft is better for my blood pressure. I wasted my time in that chat room yesterday as they just blindly moved divas back and forth between brands and teased splitting up teams and alliances. The only moves to me that really made sense were putting the Colons on RAW, which gives Priceless easier access to beat them for the Unified Tag Team Championships, bringing DH Smith to ECW for him to team with Tyson Kidd and Nattie Niedhart, and sending John Morrison to SmackDown so he can shine on a bigger stage. Hurricane Helms to ECW is a nice move too, but it's nothing really earth-shattering I think.

Other moves were head-scratchers. Why the WWE would want to turn their workrate show (ECW) into Land of the Monsters by not moving Henry and then sending both Kozlov AND Ezekiel Jackson there is beyond me. Moving Layla away from William Regal is a pretty bad move too. She was perfect with him. Now her, along with Brian Kendrick, Festus, Jesse, Ryder and Hawkins are probably next on the future endeavored list.

- WWE Superstars debuts tonight. If I have WGN America, I'll tune in live to see what all the hubbub is about. The show looks promising out of the gate with Matt Hardy against Undertaker and Christian vs. Finlay on the card for the #1 contendership to the ECW Championship. I'm afraid that other than those matches, we'll be seeing more recaps than usual, which would suuuuuuuuuuuck.

- A former World Champion debuts on TNA tonight, which I'll probably catch Saturday morning on my DVR. Since I'm not the spoiler-reading type, how many people want to bet that it's Taz?

- Finally, Dragon's Gate is expanding into the US this summer, ostensibly to compete with ROH in the indie market. I for one am psyched, since those Japanese jr. heavies are insane and thus fun to watch. The first show will be at The Arena on July 25th. I am so there, barring something coming up.

What If?

Ricky Steamboat is regarded as one of the all-time greats despite his career being cut painfully short due to an injury suffered in a match where he defeated Steve Austin for the WCW United States Championship. Granted, he was on the long side of 40, but his contemporaries - Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Roddy Piper for example - all wrestled well into the 90s, with Hogan still somewhat active and Flair only having retired a little over a year ago. Steamboat himself looked to be in fantastic shape at WrestleMania XXV and the night after on RAW, lending credence to the theory that he would have been serviceable at least into the early part of this decade in the ring.

That made me think... what if Ricky Steamboat was never injured in that match against Austin? There are so many different directions I can take this scenario. The most compelling would have him staying in WCW after that and continuing his ultra-hot feud with the Hollywood Blondes, continuing his ancient rivalry with Ric Flair, retaining the status quo until Scott Hall and Kevin Nash form the nWo and promise a third member. History would know this one as Hulk Hogan, but what if that third man was shockingly Ricky Steamboat?

Steamboat historically was the ultimate anti-heel, a guy whom the fans would cheer no matter what he'd do. In fact, this anecdote shared by the poster Wone at the PrimeTime Central boards shared this nugget:

Did you know that Ricky wanted to go heel once in his career. He was told and I quote;

"We could replace your arms with chainsaws and have you come out and cut off both of Hulk Hogan's arms and legs and no one would believe it."

However, the nWo did wonders for heeling everyone associated with it in the first phase, before it got watered down. Yeah, they sold shirts and got viewers, but they were unmistakably heel. Could this have been the vehicle that got the Steamer over as a heel? He'd definitely have a few reasons to. Getting back at Ric Flair for years of never finding a way to beat him is the best.

The biggest flaw with that would be that he'd have no reason to join with the other WWF expatriates. He was always treated better in the NWA/JCP/WCW, and he wouldn't join with Hogan (assuming that Hogan still joined the nWo) given that the nWo ushered in the era in which wrestlers became "smart" on camera and referenced things that happened backstage.

Steamboat would have fit into WCW's nWo era even as a member of the face resistance. I would imagine the pop from him and Flair teaming up to take on the black and white menace would have been nuclear. Plus, there would have been the bonus of seeing him in excellent matches against guys like Jericho, Benoit, Malenko, Scott Steiner, DDP and others.

Now, had Steamboat gone back to the WWF, he might not have had as many main event options. I doubt he would have been lost in the shuffle like he was on his second run in the company as simply "The Dragon", but it's hard to imagine him really doing more than what he would have done in WCW with the rises of guys like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and later on, Steve Austin, Mick Foley and The Rock. However, imagine the matches with those guys as well as with wrestlers such as Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, Bob Backlund (who could still go in his second main event run) and later on, Jeff Jarrett, Triple H and even Kurt Angle. Of course, the Stain of Russo might have done vile, awful things to Steamer, like say, have him get conked on the head with a coconut and then act like a hula dancer. I'd rather not think of that.

Would Steamer have fit into ECW? Maybe, maybe not, although I'd think he might not have wanted to risk getting hurt with all those weapons since he would nearly have had his career ended in that match with Austin.

There are very few guys who'd have more compelling what-if scenarios than Steamboat. I think we can all agree that he was robbed at least one more run with a World Championship, and we were all robbed of years of fantastic matches against some of the best opponents in wrestling history. Still, he couldn't have had that bad a career if he warrants a week of appreciation from grateful wrestling fans or induction into a few major wrestling halls of fame. Though grateful, we fans can be greedy at times, and part of that greed involves giving various appendages to have seen a match between prime Shawn Michaels and Ricky Steamboat.

From the Archives, Steamboat Week Edition: vs. Ric Flair at AJPW's Champions Carnival

Ric Flair has earned a reputation as being one of the best wrestlers of all-time, mainly because he's had classic matches against a wide-ranging cadre of opponents, from Lex Luger all the way to Jumbo Tsuruta. Of all his opponents, his greatest rival has to be Ricky Steamboat, and Steamboat's is Flair. No two American wrestlers have had such a rich and storied rivalry built on mutual respect, competition and good old-fashioned wrestling prowess as the Steamer and Naitch have had.

Now, there are a ton of matches from the repertory. Their first affair was over the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Television Championship in 1977. They had an awesome feud a year later for the NWA United States Championship. Their 1989 match for the NWA World Championship, the one where Steamer finally broke through and won the Big Gold Belt, is regarded as one of the great matches of all-time. One of Steamboat's last matches happened against Flair at Spring Stampede in 1994. However, I chose a lesser-known but still stellar match in their series that happened under the banner of All-Japan Pro Wrestling of all places. I'm not sure of the context behind the match, or the exact date, but this 1982 match was for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. For the first part of the match, Steamer puts on a clinic of offensive fireworks. In fact, Steamboat was in control of most of the match. Flair is on the sell most of the time, but he does get in a few bully moments and hits a sweet gutwrench suplex mid-match.

The move of the match, however, is when Steamboat drops Flair in an atomic drop. The sell on that from Flair was AMAZING! Anyway, the finish is very exciting, and it's definitely one worth watching. Both of these men showed why they're counted amongst the greatest in this match for different reasons, but you'll be impressed either way:

AJPW Flair vs Steamboat 82
Uploaded by NGMM

The Best Moves of All-Time, Steamboat Week Edition: Flying Body Press

I was trying so hard to find Youtube vids of Steamer's arm drag or an arm drag montage, but they're very hard to come by. Thankfully, the arm drag wasn't the only move that Steamboat did exceptionally well. The Dragon was also very well known for his flying body press from the top rope. One of the innovators of the modern highspot offense, Steamboat's body press still stands today as one of the most beautiful and technically sound ones in the game's history. Look for it at around the end of this clip. Sorry for the bad video quality, but it was the best I could find in short notice. You'll also notice one of his worse arm drags, plus his classic "skin the cat" spot as well:



EDIT: OOPS! The one I originally posted is Ricky Jr.'s body press. Like father, like son. I'll leave it up because it's as good as his daddy's:

Draft Thoughts

First thing's first, Triple H going to RAW means one of three things:

1 - Edge beats John Cena at Backlash to ensure Smackdown has a World-level Champion.

2 - CM Punk cashes in Money in the Bank at Backlash to ensure Smackdown has a World-level Champion.

3 - They unify the titles after Backlash (lol).

Since three is almost a lock not to happen, I think one of the two above will take place. The big question is, which one? Would they dare inject CM Punk into the top storyline to strip it of the title and maybe let the WWE Championship have its own thing going? If they were going to do that, then Randy Orton would have to win and take the fall, since you know Trips ain't laying down for CM Punk. He didn't lay down for Jeff Hardy; what makes you think he'd do the same for someone smaller, less tenured and less over?

That leads me to believe CM Punk will be the World Champion after Backlash. It doesn't exactly telegraph who's winning the Edge/Cena match, since they have been subtly teasing a heel turn for the Straight Edge superstar. It would be frigging awesome if he came down, waylaid John Cena with the briefcase and won the belt, but something tells me they're going to slowburn the heel turn after the title win, which you know always works with an over babyface *rolls eyes*

One thing that bugged me about the whole thing was the abruptness of Mizorrison's separation and Miz's turn on Morrison. This was very unlike the recent WWE and was just one of those changes for the sake of changing. Sure, they hinted in the last few weeks that it could happen, but it just felt so random. If you're going to split a team like that, I think you need to have build. It's the same reason why the Dudleys split didn't really work. It felt random, and then BAM the next week, D-Von changed characters.

Now, Miz probably won't change characters, but it still felt anti-climactic when it was announced. Maybe I'm nit-picking, but I would have preferred this scenario laid out by A1Wrestling.com poster tillrules:

I've been an advocate of a real sports styled draft since its inception. Make it a yearly tradition with it always falling the Monday before the NFL draft. Then build to it like the NFL draft, with storylines that lead to it. If you don't want to take away from the McMahon TV time, then have the storylines be on WWE.com in text pieces.

For example, you know you want to build to a Morrison & Miz split. Why not start it with a story where JR (in the role of the WWE's Mel Kiper) does a story analyzing the singles potential of top tag teams. He puts over one or the other as a potential franchise player, starting the seeds of Miz's turn. Then you can lay foundation in promos where the subject comes up indirectly.

However, what's done is done, and I think both Morrison and Miz will shine as singles competitors. I also think that Miz will make an excellent US Champion sometime this year when he gets a chance to run with that title. In fact, bookmark this page and show it to yourself when he does win that title so you don't have to wait for me to say I told you so.

The two moves I liked best from this draft were MVP to RAW and Kozlov to ECW. Firstly, MVP is going to be a centerpiece main eventer some day, and I think that day is coming sooner rather than later. Moving him to RAW so he can work with the "big talents" is a huge step and one that he needs to capitalize on in order to show the company that he's got the stuff of draws.

Kozlov to ECW is a great move and one that I advocated ever since he was soundly beaten and pinned by Undertaker in the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out. Kozlov's cache as a monster heel has been diminishing ever since he was put in the program with Triple H. Unfortunately for him, he's very limited and works best in context as an indestructible foreign heel. If he were kept on Smackdown or moved to RAW, there'd be nothing else for him to credibly do. In ECW though, he's allowed a lot of face time to devour midcard faces like Finlay and Tommy Dreamer (whom I think is going to win this Elimination Scramble and beat Jack SWAGGAH~! for the ECW Title at Backlash), run with the ECW Championship and restore his monster aura.

Of course, the Kozlov move would have worked so much better if Mark Henry was drafted to another brand. With Kozlov being moved there, Henry has become redundant. Besides, he's done all he can do in ECW for now. ECW has worked wonders for Henry so much that I think he needed to get out of there and onto one of the major brands. I think he's ready to jump into feuds with main eventers and have the fans actually buy that he's a threat this time. Let him go over Undertaker and Rey (after Rey loses the IC title, of course) on Smackdown so he can become a credible challenger to whomever is holding the World Championship at the time of his push.

Other than that, I thought they were just moving parts around. The MVP-for-Rey and Melina-for-Maryse trades were predictable, and it goes to prove that this draft set-up rather than the more sports-based draft set-up is more a deus ex machina to make change for the sake of change rather than what they're selling you in kayfabe, and that's to make things ZOMG UNPREDICTABLE~!

I'm also afraid that Matt Hardy is going to be lost in the shuffle on RAW. He has so much momentum coming out of WrestleMania, and he needs to have a sustained push. With Triple H, Orton, Batista, Cena and now MVP on RAW and given that RAW is traditionally the McMahon family spank rag, how much camera time will be left for Matt after the big players get theirs? One saving grace is that no matter how many big names there are on RAW, there always seems to be some time for guys like William Regal, Kofi Kingston and Mike Knox to get face time, so maybe all's not lost for the Black Sheep Hardy after all.

All in all, I thought it was a fairly mediocre way to spend three hours. There was some good action, but for what could be potentially the final WWE Draft, it wasn't memorable at all. When I say final WWE Draft... rumor has it that MyNetworkTV may not last the year, which means Smackdown could end up being with out a home. That could signify a forced end to the brand split, or it could end with SD moving to another network, like maybe WGN or possibly a network like NBC in a longshot.

It's Ricky Steamboat Week!

This week on the blog, I'm honoring one of the all-time greats, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat! Steamboat's resumé is sterling despite the relative shortness of his career. He showed recently that he can still go, arm dragging his way through two great performances this past week. He only looks old, but you're only as old as you feel.


Ricky with the Intercontinental Championship

I'll be looking at at least one of his classic matches, if not more, for the "From the Archives" feature. There will be a GoAT Files feature on Steamer, as a case can certainly be made for his all-time greatest candidacy. I'll have some other fun things concerning him, and I'll also be taking requests for content, how you would like to see The Dragon honored.


Steamer with the Big Gold Belt

So sit back and enjoy the weeklong tribute to the man known as The Dragon. I hope I can do him justice in the coming days.

TNA's problem

I sat down to watch Impact yesterday from my DVR. I only really got up to the non-title Suicide/Bashir match before I started having problems with the DVR and just quit watching it. From watching last week's show and the intro to this week's show, it just struck me how disorganized and all over the place the booking was. The internal inconsistencies are glaring.

Last week, the focal point of the show was that the Main Event Mafia was trying to get Sting to rejoin them, to apologize to him and get him to come back despite all the crap Kurt Angle has put him through in the last month. Sting was hesitant, and he didn't seem like he was going to be go back with them easily when Mick Foley interrupted them and made the match with Samoa Joe that closed the show.

So this week, Sting comes out with the Mafia firmly entrenched around his side. Okay, for a promotion that relies so heavily on the backstage segment, where was the segment letting us know that Sting was back with the Mafia? If that wasn't the case, and they talked behind closed doors, then where were the announcers telling us that Sting was back with the Mafia, or at the very least, their shock that Sting was in tow?

To make matters worse, the Motor City Machine Guns inexplicably interrupted the opening segment with the Mafia and Triple J... err, I mean Jeff Jarrett and said that they'd gladly take on Mick Foley for... get this, something that happened six months ago.

In one breath, TNA is expecting their audience to forget what they saw last week and just accept that Sting was back with the Mafia, no questions asked on his behalf. In another, they want you to remember that the MCMGs were humiliated by Mick Foley six months ago and have been waiting for this long to get their revenge. You see the lack of internal consistency, right?

This is the problem with any Vince Russo-booked organization. There is no internal consistency. Even with Vince McMahon and the rest of the WWE braintrust as a filter, Russo's illogical whims still slipped down into the rest of the company's programming. It's like you need to have ADHD to get his booking. Thankfully, back in those days, he had megahot stars like Austin and Rock to lean on and not drive people away.

Now, with TNA, what does he have? A group of guys whose best years came years before in companies like WCW and the WWE, and a bunch of "nobodies" as the Main Event Mafia would have us believe. I hate using the term nobodies to refer to guys who haven't made it in the business, but it looks to me that their promos are more shoot than work. I mean, what else would be the explanation for AJ Styles to refuse leadership of Team Originals in Lethal Lockdown?

"Oh Jeff, I can't do this because I know I'll let you down, but under your leadership, I won't let you down! Just give me a chance to be your subordinate, Jeff! I'm nobody without you! The Mafia's right to question me!"

Okay, those weren't the exact words, but that's what he was screaming to me without saying that exact thing. Really, if I were Vince McMahon, I wouldn't be trembling in my Italian loafers either.

TNA is in bad shape right now from a booking standpoint, and the ratings and buyrates reflect that. I'm not sure many people would like to watch a show where the stories change from week to week, where characters aren't consistent and where random things happen just for the sake of having a swerve. A good 85% of their problems can be fixed by realizing that it's not 1998 anymore and kicking Vince Russo to the curb.

Who's the fix? It's really not clear at this point other than the fact that the booking should be more logical and more competition based. It's amazing what a little internal consistency can do for the program though. Look at the WWE. It took them a few years to get out of Russo's influence, but right now, they can at least give you a reason for everything that happens. It's not a good reason all the time. They still mix up their face and heel roles at times. Some of the characters they introduce are just dreadful. However, everything happens for a reason. The past is embraced, not forgotten or conveniently remembered at random points. There's a healthy mix of past and future that combines to put emphasis on the present. I don't see where that happens at all in TNA.

And that's why the WWE is far and ahead the market leader, while TNA is floundering.

The Best Moves of All-Time: Goldberg's Spear

One of the most overused moves in wrestling today is the spear. The move has been around for awhile, but it took Bill Goldberg to make it as popular as it is today. Goldberg may have had a metric shit-ton of flaws, but the Spear wasn't one of them. In fact, he probably had the best looking one ever. Here's a compilation of them. Apologies if you don't like Kid Rock, as he provides the soundtrack for this with "American Badass".

ECW! ECW!

Last night's was another example as to why ECW is the best wrestling show on television when it's not being used as a spank rag for the other two shows. Gladly, this only happens around the time before WrestleMania, as they need someplace to showcase the midcard. *makes jerk-offy motion with right hand*

Let's recap the show quickly. First segment. Teddy Long announces he's going to Smackdown to take over the GM spot vacated by Vickie Guerrero. He announces that his assistant Tiffany would be taking over the GM duties. Jack SWAGGAH~! comes out and asserts his influence as ECW Champion, to which Tiffany doesn't buckle and announces that she's going to be implementing an elimination scramble to find out who SWAGGAH~!'s opponent is going to be at Backlash.

After this, aside from the herky-jerky recaps, there's nothing but wrestling. Six-man tag featuring the always exciting Evan Bourne and the Unified Tag Champs the Colon Bros. taking on Mizorrison and Tyson Kidd. After that, the elimination scramble, which is a series of matches where one guy gets eliminated each week. This week started out with Finlay, Christian, Tommy Dreamer and Mark Henry. Henry was eliminated this week, so next week, we'll see a three-way. The action in both matches was top-notch for free TV.

This isn't to say that there isn't good wrestling on RAW or Smackdown, because there is. However, let's contrast the out-of-ring side of things, shall we? The two "main" title defenses were announced on RAW, both by corrupt authority figure Vickie Guerrero. One made sense; she gave her husband Edge a rematch against John Cena, but she made it a Last Man Standing match... wtf? Why would that match warrant that stipulation when the only thing that happened so far between WM and last night was... nothing?

The other one was random. As stated yesterday, well, Vickie went over Vince's head and made the six-man match a title match. One, what authority did she have to go over the head of the owner of the company? Two... why is it her business to stick her nose into that situation? What reason did she have? The announcement was anti-climactic and it just felt thrown out there. No build, no suspense, and if anything, the Last Man Standing stip should have been given to a singles bout between Trips and Orton. It's almost like they don't spend the time those of us who watch live are forced to to see the 10 or so minutes of airtime devoted to recapping the previous week.

But then you take ECW, and what new GM Tiffany did to build towards SWAGGAH~!'s title defense at Backlash. She set up a competition between four guys who in kayfabe are deserving of Championship consideration and is letting them decide it in the ring. It's a simple storyline, men fighting for a shot to get ahead. It's simple and yet... it works. It doesn't feel forced, it gives the fans a chance to watch really good wrestling that has implications for three straight shows, and at the end, the person who earns the shot will feel like they deserve it, instead of having authority figure deus ex machina du jour just give it to them.

I know that many wrestling fans who saw that the WWE was going to put the ECW name on a brand that didn't operate in the same spirit as the original were outraged. I was among them. I was a huge mark for ECW back in the day, and looking back at it, I really do feel it had a very high peak and deserved to be judged with the best in history.

Today's ECW may not be the same as the fed that shared its name in the past, but it has turned into the best wrestling show on television and it's not even close (well, I can't say that because I don't get HDNet and thus can't watch ROH's weekly programming). This is the model that I wish the WWE would use for Smackdown and/or RAW. Sure, ECW doesn't get ratings, but it's shunted away with little fanfare, none of the "big stars" on a network you don't necessarily associate with wrestling. However, the critical raves it gets are definitely a sign that people will watch and like the style if presented on a bigger stage.

So, if you agree with this, please join me in an old school chant...

"ECW! ECW! ECW! ECW!"

The GoAT Files: The Undertaker

Often times, there's debate on who the best professional wrestler of all-time is. We all know the names that come up in debate: Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock and so on and so forth. It's a debate that will probably never be comprehensively settled, given that different communities will swear by different standards. For example, try and say anyone was better than Thesz at the Wrestling Classics board, and not only will you be banned, but you'll be tarred, feathered and paraded around the town square for mockery. Try to insinuate that Triple H is the best of all time at A1, and you'll be flamed like a Frenchman in the wake of German flamethrowers in World War I. Trust me, I know, I'll be leading the brigade.

Here, in the interest of getting all the information out, I'll be profiling all the names that appear in debates, whether they be the no-brainers like the guys I've listed above or the ones off the beaten path, like Bob Backlund, Shawn Michaels, Sting, Mick Foley and today's profile...

The Undertaker


Pros: Long career with very few valleys, was over feuding with several of the industry's greats, solid workrate even late in career, respected by WWE to the point of holding the longest WrestleMania undefeated streak

Cons: Was never really the top draw in his company, always seemingly overshadowed by megastars, had problems staying healthy

When looking at the real impact players from the WWE in the last two decades, it's pretty easy to overlook the Dead Man. With guys like Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Triple H, Brock Lesnar and now John Cena manning the ring as the company cornerstones, Undertaker can seem like a background player.

However, all of those guys except maybe John Cena, have feuded with Undertaker, have had classic matches with the Undertaker and were in some way enhanced by the Undertaker's presence. Even though he's had two "WrestleMania moments", they were in some way overshadowed by other guys on the card (WM13 was the Austin/Hitman double turn, last year had Flair's retirement match), so in a way, it's easy to forget that the Undertaker has had almost 20 years of solid service with the WWE as a reliable part of their backbone.

But let's forget for a second that he was never the top draw in the company, or that he was always there concurrently with other stars. He has remained over and one of the most recognizable people in the company, whether heel or face. He never fails to get a crowd reaction. He was able to get Glen Jacobs as Kane over merely by being attached to him, after the WWE had failed in getting him over with other gimmicks. And if backstage lore is to be believed, he ensured that Steve Austin would win the World Championship at WrestleMania 14 by threatening Shawn Michaels with bodily harm if he pulled any funny business during the match. Sure, he wasn't Hulk Hogan, but he has done so much for the company in his own way that it would be hard to imagine what the WWE would be like now if it didn't have a reliable rock like 'Taker to lean on.

And when you think of who the best worker in the company has been this decade, how could you not come to the conclusion that it's Undertaker? He's been around and putting on fantastic matches with wrestlers across the spectrum for the entire decade. He carried Batista to a good match, something that most people can't claim to do. He's been in WrestleMania classics with Randy Orton, Ric Flair, Edge and this year, Shawn Michaels. He was in a classic Hell in the Cell match where he put Brock Lesnar over and arguably cemented Lesnar's title reign. Who else can claim 'Taker's resume in terms of ring work alone? Not Rock or Austin, as they weren't around for the latter part of the decade. Triple H hasn't been a top flight worker since before his first quad blowout. Lesnar had perhaps the best one or two year peak in the decade in the company, but he left far too soon. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit can both claim similar rap sheets, and they're really probably the only two I can think of. However, Taker has three years on Benoit, and Angle leaving for TNA hurts his resume a bit.

I know when talking about the GoAT, Taker admittedly is a fringe candidate to seize the top spot. However, looking at his whole career, it's very, very hard to leave him out of the top ten, and he has to be seriously considered for a spot in the top five. While appreciated by his home company as referenced by the title reigns he gets today and his awesome WrestleMania streak, other fans and those in the know may not appreciate him for various reasons. It's a shame, because those who've been watching the Dead Man over the years are in on the secret. He's something special, and the 'E will have a hard time replacing him when he finally hangs up the boots.

Championship Fraudulence

There are a lot of things that annoy me about pro wrestling logic, like corrupt authority figures continuing to act as the heels' deus ex machina despite the fact that they would have been fired by a real company after their first indiscretion (fodder for another post later). Or how the referees always seem to be on top of the face team trying to enter illegally but never seem to be able to do their job for the heels. Or how wrestlers divulge their plans in the locker room like there's no camera around when there's definitely a camera in their face.

The thing that annoys me most is when a match is set up so that the Champion can lose his/her/their title even if they don't get pinned or made to submit for it. When it happens once in a blue moon, maybe it could work. Even then, you'd have to give me a good reason to believe why Wrestler X should be stripped of his title when Jobber Y was the one who was not talented enough to get himself pinned. The WWE does this all the time. Their version of the Triple Threat match is the biggest example, since it's one fall for the three guys involved. With no title on the line, I can buy that. With a title on the line? Well, I can kinda buy that too, since the third guy usually doesn't have to tag himself in and has to be incapacitated for a pinfall not involving him to take place. I really do wish that all three-ways were elimination, so that the Champion's loss of title is fully legit, but at this point, I take what I can get.

What I can't take at all are these tag matches where the title is at stake, like the one booked by Vince McMahon at the beginning of RAW last night. It was set up as Legacy vs. the McMahon family in a six-man tag, and Vince professed that Randy Orton would never get a title shot ever again. Okay, I can buy that. But then later on in the show, Vickie Guerrero, the new full-time RAW GM, comes out and overrides Vince, putting the title on the line in a situation where Triple H could lose the title and Orton could win, if, say, Ted DiBiase, Jr. pinned Shane McMahon.

I'm sorry, but where's the fucking logic in that, especially since it's illegal to enter the ring in a tag match without getting tagged in? There is none, and the fact that the guy holding the title is Triple H raises a ton of red flags. Despite his reputation as a political terror waning over the years with supposed acts of good behavior, the fact remains that the last time he had to job his title, he did so in a three-way match where Jeff Hardy pinned Edge.

In fact, if HHH loses the title without being pinned in a six-man match, it wouldn't be the first time he evaded jobbing the belt without losing it himself. At King of the Ring 2000, the Rock won Trips' belt by pinning... Shane McMahon. Yep. History could be in the process of repeating itself.

Now, if it were anyone else, I'd be pissed but not aghast. But the fact that it's Triple H is infuriating because this is the guy who, as a heel, was the one who got over on face after face after face during the buildups of feuds, indicating that he'd be eating his comeuppance at the PPV. Yet, did it happen? No, not even for Kane, who had to job after the indignity of being saddled with the necrophilia of one Katie Vick. How much do you want to bet that the original plan for WM was to close with the Cena three way and having Orton win the title from Trips, but good ol' son-in-law had the main event changed by appealing to Papa Bear's and his offspring's massive sense of ego? And now he gets the chance to drop the title without eating a loss, thus refusing to put Orton over.

Yeah, I'm not buying it. Triple H wants so bad to be Hulk Hogan, but he doesn't have half the charisma that the Hulkster had, and he knows it. Or at least he should have known it now that he spent his second WrestleMania ending basking in the lukewarm reaction of a crowd that really didn't give a shit about him. All the politicizing in the world will only get him so far though. If it weren't for his connections, first with the Kliq and second by marrying Stephanie, there's no way he would be in the position he's in. Sure, he'd be a multiple-time Champion and a main eventer, but he'd have been totally outclassed in star power by Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, John Cena and others.

Now, I could be surprised. I do think there's a possibility that Orton does pin Triple H, or that Trips' team wins (Batista Bomb on Cody Rhodes sounds about right). However, just given Trips' track record, I have no faith in this match turning out as anything but a way for Orton to get strapped without Trips absorbing any heat by losing.

Really, regardless of who's in the match or who could win the title, I wish they'd stop coming up with these kinds of stips. It's lazy booking and I'm betting most fans don't buy it. And they shouldn't. No other sport, especially MMA, has contrived stipulations like that. Just because wrestling is staged doesn't mean it should be a farce.

More WrestleMania Fallout: The Main Event

Again, I thought that the main event was a fine wrestling match. Others thought it was boring, but I liked the pacing, I liked how they stuck to the overarching story of Triple H wanting to waylay Orton but not being able to do it without risking his title. I do admit that I watched the match without any of the context of Triple H's career in my mind, mainly because I didn't want to give myself indigestion over how much I hate the fucker and all he's done to push himself as the Ubermensch of the WWE, despite not having a tenth of the dramatic charisma of guys like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker and Randy Savage, LET ALONE the megadraws like Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Steve Austin, guys that Trips thinks he compares to.

I said earlier this morning/last night that I thought that there was no special aura around the event, and that I struggled to put my finger as to exactly why I didn't feel that. I chalked it up to being a "smart" fan or to growing up, but in the same breath said that I shed a tear over Flair's retirement moment from last year when I watched it yesterday morning. It's not like I wasn't a smark yesterday morning and just switched to being one that night. But then, I went over to the Figure Four Online/Wrestling Observer site and read this feeback from Zack Baker:

HHH vs. Orton. I think the problem in this match is that the crowd had just honored Steve Austin, who made his career doing many of the kinds of things to the McMahon family that Orton is doing now. To cheer Austin is in many ways to hate Vince and authority in general. Austin celebrates in the ring and the crowd is hot, and then that same crowd is supposed to cheer HHH, McMahon's son in law, in his quest to honor the family name?

There was never really a point in the match where you thought Orton would win. Plus, HHH just isn't that sympathetic as a babyface, and I don't think he has ever reached a top level on that side, the way Austin, Hogan, Hart or Rock have. He's a natural heel, and the two times he's ended WM as a babyface champion, the crowd has been subdued.

He hit the nail on the head, and he made me realize why it didn't feel like WrestleMania. Triple H went into this match as the face, right? Yet, why is he the one who needed to cheat to win? I mean, the whole fabric of this feud is that Randy Orton needed to have his backup, be it Priceless or lawyers or Vickie Guerrero putting in stips that favored him, to win. Outside of getting the sledgehammer that he never got to use... what heelish things did he do? Where was Priceless when the ref was knocked out?

Why is it that Triple H acts like a heel when he's supposed to be a face, and is booked like a classic face when he's supposed to be heel? It's mind-boggling (or mind-bottling if you're Chaz Michaels from Blades of Glory).

My opinion on the match itself, sans context, hasn't changed. However, I think I finally found out why it didn't feel like WrestleMania to me. There's nothing wrong with me as a wrestling fan. There's something wrong with Triple H being pushed as the second coming of Hulk Hogan. I've tried to swallow it, but I guess I just can't.

Best Moves of All-Time: The Razor's Edge/Outsider's Edge

Here's the second installment of the BMoAT series, and it's a classic move. The Razor's Edge or Outsider's Edge, depending on whether you were more a fan of Scott Hall as Razor Ramon or co-founder of the nWo. This has always been a favorite move of mine. It just looked like no one should be getting up from it, and it was a big reason why I marked so hard for Razor back in the day. Other guys have done it, like Eddie Guerrero for one, but I thought Hall always did it best.

WrestleMania XXV

Thank God that the build for WrestleMania didn't reflect the quality of it, because if it did, the show would have been putrid. The telecast, which almost stretched the entire four hour runtime set aside, was far from putrid and was actually one of the better WrestleManias I've viewed. It wasn't the best. For me, that's still X and then X-7 after that. I also had a few gripes of varying sizes, but really none of them had to do with the quality of the wrestling. It was a solid show and it passed muster for being the biggest event of the wrestling year.

For once, there really wasn't a bathroom-break quality match. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, the Divas battle royale wasn't anything to write home about, but it was fun seeing Santino in drag prancing around the ring. It was cool to see Sunny and Torrie Wilson and Molly Holly back in a WWE ring. And of course, Beth Phoenix's facial expressions in reaction to her boyfriend winning the battle royale were priceless. She really does have "it" as far as divas go. It's subtle, but she's so underrated when it comes to acting and expressing herself in ways other than wrestling.

The big problem I had was with what preceeded the Diva BR. Why the fuck did we need to see 15 minutes of Kid Rock? I mean, really? THIS was what needed to bump the Tag Title match to DVD-viewing only? This is why we couldn't have seen Jack SWAGGAH~! and Evan Bourne in an ECW Championship match? I could understand seeing him play the divas out to "So Hott", which would have been cool, but we didn't need the frigging medley beforehand.

My other big problem was that it didn't feel like anything special happened, especially in the main events. Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe now that I'm a "smart" fan (I hate that term, btw, since every fan is smart to some degree today thanks to the all-pervasiveness of the Internet), WM has lost its magic to an extent. Maybe it's because while Cena and MVP and Trips are over and have their charisma to an extent, they're no Hogan or Rock or even Austin (whom I marked out for hardcore when he rode that ATV down to the ring... God I miss him as a full-time wrestler). I don't know. Even though the relatively clean finishes were the right moves for each respective match, and even though from a wrestling standpoint, they were satisfying, they just didn't seem to have the cache of Hogan bodyslamming Andre, or Hogan kicking out of the elbow drop and beating Savage, or even HBK landing two Sweet Chin Musics on Flair last year. Hell, I was watching that On Demand, and a year later, it still brought a tear to my eye.

I'm not sure if I can hold that against them. The wrestling was great, the finishes logical and fitting the event. It wasn't like some sloppy Russo show where they schmozzed the crap out of the main event and tried to sell it as magical. Maybe it just didn't click with me. Regardless though, I enjoyed myself watching it, and I can say that I have faith in the business, at least on an in-ring side of it, once again.

But enough with the doubts and the negativity. Let's run down the matches and what I liked about the event.

- MitB was what I expected it would be - an insane amount of bumps from guys who could deliver. By the way, if Shelton Benjamin doesn't get a bigger push out of this, it's a fucking crime. That dude had an AMAZING match, bumped crazy and popped the crowd with that outstanding springboard move on MVP off the ladder despite being over as a heel. I'm also glad that Punk won, but I thought they missed out on a golden opportunity to cement getting him over by not having him cash it in the same night over the guy who put him out of action and cost him the belt originally.

- The Jericho/Legends match was great for what it was. Steamboat can still go, which I thought was really cool seeing the shitty way he had to retire. His arm drag is still a thing of beauty. I also thought they handled Mickey Rourke being there very well, playing to his strengths after mentioning that he was a legit boxer. It was a great way for Jericho to keep his heat going and still give the fans what they wanted to see... the cocky young prick getting his comeuppance.

- Hardy/Hardy was my personal match of the night. I thought that it had the potential to get sloppy, but I liked the way how they were almost economical with the weapon use. Even with all the crazy crap going on in MitB, Matt's Twist of Fate/Pillmanization of Jeff's head combo to finish the match was the spot of the night. I really hope this is a launching board for Matt to become a legit top-of-the-card heel. I think he can really shine there, especially in feuds against other smallish type babyfaces.

- I liked the IC squash for what it was. I thought it was a perfect cap for JBL's scheming in the last six months, and it was another case of a guy getting comeuppance for opening his big fat mouth. I also liked that Rey won in such dominant fashion. They NEVER used to do that for a smaller guy, and it's a great way of giving Rey a boost in credibility. Remember, after he won the World Title a few years back, they shit on it by making him not be able to win a match cleanly. Plus, JBL's probably going to be going back to the broadcast booth, and for the cock he's reputed as being backstage, for him to do that is a real man-up situation.

- Taker/HBK was as great as advertised. 'Nuff said.

- I was pleasantly surprised by both title matches. The three way had minimal Vickie interference and the announcers actually played up the match more than they did the stupid, shitty love triangle angle. Plus, Cena FUing the two guys was an amazing sight. Say what you want about John Cena and his "lack of moveset" (btw, how many fucking moves did Bret Hart do? I hate workrate snobs sometimes) or his "corny gimmick" but he knows how to connect with the fans and work a decent match.

- Trips/Orton was a lot better than I was willing to give it credit for beforehand. It just goes to show how a straight up wrestling match can sell. Most instant feeback I'm hearing is negative, and I disagree. I thought it was a great match for the competitors involved. I liked that Orton didn't break out a resthold until the 10 minute mark. I thought the finishers at the beginning was a nice touch. I liked how Trips had to wrestle with not going over the edge and losing the title on a DQ, and yet still found a way to use the sledgehammer, and in fact needed that and a Pedigree to put Orton away. This is the kind of stuff I want to see. Not Triple H being Ubermensch and killifying everyone in his path. Not Orton do resthold after resthold and have all his fanboys claim "psychology!" Not faux drama over home invasions or syrupy love angles featuring Stephanie. Maybe I'm a victim of my lowered expectations, but I think the match was a good, old-school wrestling affair.

So overall, I'd recommend ordering the replay if you didn't catch it. Maybe it wasn't WrestleMania III, but it also wasn't a Russo-era In Your House either. Great show, and I'm glad I didn't skip it this year.

WrestleMania Countdown: Triple H vs. Randy Orton

In a match that's for WAY MORE THAN THE WWE TITLE!!!!1

World Wrestling Entertainment Champion

Triple H

vs.

2009 Royal Rumble Winner

Randy Orton

If the Edge/Cena/Show match build was overkill, this build was beating a dead horse with another dead horse. But the compacted version. Trips didn't like that Orton and Priceless conspired to eliminate him at the Rumble. He really didn't like it when Orton went around and punted his in-laws and RKOed his wife, thus revealing the worst-kept kayfabe secret in all the land. A Benny Hill reenactment, a home invasion, a no-contact stipulation that was violated just days after it was implemented, a total squishifying of Cody Rhodes and two primo endings to RAW in a row later, here we are. Oh yeah, if Triple H gets diqualified or counted out, he can lose the title.

It's no secret that I hate both competitors involved in this match. It's also no secret that I'm not a huge fan of VKM's satanic spawn being on camera. I almost have nothing to look forward to in this match, but it'll probably close the show and we'll get one of those rare bummer-ends to WrestleMania, like the year they closed with Austin/Rock, turned Austin heel and spent the better part of the year trying to keep him all heeled up despite the fact the fans shat all over it and wanted him to turn back face. Still, it's a WrestleMania main event, and it could surprise. I mean, how many times do you look back at a match that you never thought you'd like going into it and were amazed? Probably more than a few.

That being said, for how awful the build for this match was for the better part of two months, the last two weeks started to make up for it. It was almost like the Crash-TV/zomg edgy writing contingient was overthrown by the guys on the staff who knew how to build a classic wrestling event. I'll give anything a chance, even if it involves people that I can never, ever find myself rooting for, as long as it's compelling. I'm probably different in that regard, as most people wouldn't care if the story's good if they can't find someone to identify with.

Still, I really hope that for future big events, that the booking staff sees the writing on the wall and notices how much their former target demographic has flocked towards MMA, where the storyline 99 times out of 100 is "can fighter x beat fighter y?" When that's the target storyline, it lends itself to great TV. It doesn't mean that you don't have to have the gaudy segments and bombastic characters. That is what will always set wrestling apart from MMA. I mean, look at the Michaels/Taker feud. The overarching storyline was "can Michaels end Taker's WM streak?" Simple, effective, but it didn't stop them from having those funeral segments at the end of the build and those segments were well-done because they focused on one guy trying to get a mental advantage over the other guy going into the bout. That's all you need.

Leave home invasions for network drama series. Just give me wrestling and stuff that involves wrestling.

Now, what do I expect from this match? I expect there to be a lot of drama over Triple H losing his shit and getting himself disqualified, but having to hold back because the title still means something to him. I expect Randy Orton to use a lot of rest holds. I expect a ref bump and a clusterfuck featuring Priceless and the McMahon boys. And I expect Stephanie to swerve the world, hit Trips with a sledgehammer or something and allow Randy Orton to get the win, thus joining Legacy and yeah yeah yeah.

What do I want to happen? A very localized fissure in the Earth's crust to swallow up Stephanie, Trips and Randy Orton and take them away from us for good. Okay, for real, I just don't want to be annoyed. This is the match I care least about.