ThinkSoJoE, JT, G, and Jorge return for another episode of BoredWrestlingFan Radio! Joe loses his mind, causing BWF’s RYTMAN to question his sanity in the comments of the live broadcast. Did Triple H really piss himself on RAW? Was John Cena vs. CM Punk really worthy of being shown on EVERY WWE SHOW this week? Was TNA worth watching? What was so “social” about SmackDown? In the news, we find out the whereabouts of Ted DiBiase Jr. We discuss possible Old School RAW participants. Darren Young injured? Ain’t nobody got time for that! Why is Donald Trump “Hulk Hogan creepy?” What could be a better name for a wrestling themed pizzeria than “Squared Circle?” What in the blue hell is the Harlem Shake, and will Joe be doing it at WrestleMania? All this and more on this week’s edition of BWF Radio!
Well, here we are. One more PPV to get through until the final stretch before WrassleMunia. Good times, good times. To be honest, the card looks pretty solid, and I expect Sunday will deliver a solid show. As for Smackdown, this probably will a whole bunch of clip packages and filler. Perhaps one or two tidbits of interest will slip through the cracks… Perhaps. But, that’s why you’re here. To see what in the blue hell happened (or what I perceived that happened).
It’s Tuesday, you know what that means. Wait, it’s Tuesday? What in the blue hell? I’m not even supposed to be working here today! Great American Bash? More like Holla, Holla, Playah, Holla! It’s Teddy Long time, folks. So let’s just make our way down to the ring, shall we? No hopping to it this time.
Fortunately I got to watch this with my fellow smark “Kasan” on the Stickam account “Threewaydance”. While I generally am at work when it’s live, if you want fellow wrestling fans to break down the action with live, I highly recommend checking them out.
I’m going to be honest. They did not draw as well as they usually did. So I think I wasn’t expecting that great of a show. But I learned it’s not the size of the crowd. It’s how “on-fire” that crowd is. Less than two weeks ago, we saw how one crowd could carry an entire show at a WWE Monday Night Raw. Tonight, the MPX crowd made the show.
We began with Kyle Davis and Kody Kox who introduced Kate. She was called the “heart and soul” of MPX. Even MPX’s naysayers say she’s great.
Kate introduced Frankie Fisher who walked out and looked intimidating and jaw-jacked with the fans. And then Jerome Daniels’ music hit. He walked out with a purpose carrying a kendo stick. He has a nice voice and cuts a nice promo. But the promo he cut tonight… I would have to put this up at the top of MPX’s greatest promos: “Just” James Johnson’s heel turn, the Haiden-LaMotta back-and-forth, the promo I cut on Kenny Steele (ok, so I threw that one in there for the fun of it). The promo centered around how he and Frankie were going to have “a moment.” It reminded me of the promo R-Truth cut on Miz on Raw in December. (“I’m going beat you up every night and unwrap this present cause Little Jimmy said it’s okay.”) But this promo was coherent and did not set black people back 20 years.
First match: Matt Palmer vs. Gregory James
Now you’re probably wondering (as was I) how in the Blue Hell this was the first match. So I spent some time thinking about this. The MPX crowd is one boring match away from dying. I believe this match was put here to wake the crowd up. Palmer has some nice new ring gear. He is also looking a little bulkier. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting. But the match I got was very story-centered. You can’t fight the same match here that you would at Anarchy down in Austin. Palmer had some huge chops. The crowd took a while to get there but they were engaged in this match. I wrote down that there was lots of emotion in this match. And the best part about the emotion was the crescendo it took to get there. Palmer is so expressive that he carries every emotion on his sleeve.
Winner: Headbanger
After the match, they shook hands. I liked the sportsmanship. They had a cute vignette with Viktor Tadlock and Ben Wylde playing putt putt. I love them introducing different characters.
Second match: Dave Dunnings vs. Regrub w/The Following
My main goal as this match started was to not gouge out my eyes. I do like the work of Dunnings plus I get to chant “Double-D.” He’s country and I love the country element. Plus, he’s such a good character. The crowd loved him. The crowd also loved to hate The Following. Regrub did the forearm to the chest. The only problem with that is that Sheamus does it very well and very loud. At first I was expecting a squash and then it wasn’t. It kept going on a little more.
Winner: Dunnings
If Dunnings and Regrub are having a feud, that’s fine. But he’s a tag champ. I’m a stickler for protecting champs. Kyle Valo was well-received with a “Shut up, Kyle” chant.
Scott Murdoch came out to say there was no competition. He worked the live crowd well. You can always tell when somebody has experience with live crowds because he had quite the fun with them in a sadistic “kid torturing an ant with a magnifying glass” kinda way. He sat down in the chair and waited for competition. His back was turned and James Hawke snuck an attack but he did attack him from the front. It was a brutal brawl. Security had a hard time separating them. Hawke was ON FIRE. I’ve done my share of mocking him for being John Cena. This was not John Cena. One angle and MPX fixed him. WWE, why can’t you fix your Cena?
Third match: Kristopher Haiden vs. Danny Saint
One of my favorite guys to watch in wrestling is PAC. I love his high-flying, aerial moves. There were no PAC moves in this match. This was a hot feud. They weren’t fighting from the get-go. Saint crouched in the corner as Haiden walked out. Then when the bell hit, Saint was on fire. I hate it when guys have feuds and they start off with a side headlock. There was none of that here. This was a good feud match. This was simply violent. Two guys who hate each other beat the s*** out of each other. Haiden won with a clothesline from Hell.
Winner: Haiden
After the match, Haiden took the microphone and set up Haiden vs. Headbanger for the next show. During the intermission, the faces came out and mingled with the crowd. It was a good family atmosphere.
Fourth match: Viktor Tadlock vs. Ryan Gauge w/The Following
I’ve never seen Tadlock as a face and I was kinda blown away. He is quite versatile. He can do the angry heel but he can do that monster babyface too. The comparison that comes to mind is Batista, except Tadlock wants to be there and will not injure himself walking to the ring. At first Tadlock was supposed to get Arcane, but Arcane decided that Tadlock wasn’t fighting him. He was going to get Ryan Gauge. Poor Ryan. Tadlock started telling him he wanted no part of him. Gauge slapped him. So Tadlock took him to the turnbuckles and slapped his chest a little. And by little, I mean hard. He got squashed.
Winner: Tadlock
After the match, Arcane told Gauge he was out and then The Following beat on him until he was saved by Tadlock & Wylde. Do I smell a 6-man?
Fifth match: “Just” James Johnson vs. Jerome Daniels
This match had a nice enough premise. Johnson wanted the belt and why should Daniels come in and get a title shot? You can tell these two are veterans who have wrestled each other many times. There were so many “little things” and nuances these guys got right. Johnson spit or something thereby prompting a “That’s disgusting” chant. I told you it was a pretty awesome crowd. The two guys really brought it. Nigel Rabid came out and interfered in full British mode.
Winner by dq: Daniels
Li Fang came out to the rescue. Both Daniels and Johnson were laying down in the ring. Li Fang went up to the top rope. Fang should come to the rescue of Daniels, right? But he attacked Daniels, turning heel. And thus was introduced “The Asian Nation.” I’m not seeing Nigel in it yet, but I will see how it transpires.
Main event: Bling & Sting vs. Kenny Steele & Frankie Fisher
Bling and Sting ($Payday$ and WASP respectively) had matching tights so they looked like a tag team. $Payday$ tried some new moves out. While they did not come out as smoothly or fluidly as he probably would have liked, I like that he’s working on finding himself a wider repertoire. The big knock on John Cena is the “5 Moves of Doom” (or as I say about Davey Richards, the “25 Moves of Doom”). $Payday$ is not content to do the same moves in every match. And the more opportunities to try his moves in front of different crowds, the more successful he will become. One spot I think he nailed was the suplex into the Stunner. WASP was pretty strong with the crowd reaction. He kept them engaged. Somebody in the crowd (or security) started chanting “WASP is gonna kill you.” It caught on. The high moment of the match (and the night, quite frankly) was when Frankie and WASP were fighting over by the merchandise table. I couldn’t see what the move was exactly from where I was sitting but Frankie went through the table. It was a total “Holy s***” moment. It wasn’t like the Spanish announcers table at a PPV where you take bets on which match destroys the table. It was the sacred merchandise table, which is the only table MPX uses. It got a “That was awesome” chant. With those two doing that on the outside it was between Kenny and $Payday$. $Payday$ made the pin.
Winner: Bling & Sting
Frankie sold his table bump like a pro. All the fans had to walk past him on his way out.
All in all… This show was perhaps the best I have seen from MPX. Top to bottom, this was a really good show. There were about 4 good matches. Even the ones that didn’t knock my socks off weren’t bad. There was a really great promo, decent heel turn and a really awesome table spot. While still not perfect, I’m really looking forward to the major show in two weeks.
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Wrestlemania 27 is in the books. My initial thoughts were it was pretty bad. Considering the fact it was Wrestlemania, that makes it pretty awful. It was like a double-stuffed Raw. And it wouldn’t have even been a good Raw. It conjures up a lot of comparisons to what most people consider to be the worst Wrestlemania – #9.
First of all, I loved the pageantry and the excess of it all. This is their spectacle. The WWE knows how to do big at Wrestlemania, and I think they should get the credit they deserve. The pyro, the big-ness of everything, the video packages (especially the Miz’), it had the feel of a big event, production values-wise.
I love The Rock. I really do (though nowhere near as much as my wife does). But having him there was completely pointless. When I think that Sheamus and Daniel Bryan had to cut their match short so The Rock could do his nonsensical promo, it makes me mad. Relax. I’m not one of those “You sold out” fans that think wrestlers should do nothing but wrestle all their lives. Dwayne Johnson has made a nice name for himself in Hollywood. I have moved on. He is not a wrestler anymore. I don’t want to see him in the ring, unless he’s talking. He showed up at the arena 2 times in a 6-week period. What in the Blue Hell has The Rock done to deserve that lengthy promo at the beginning? Recently? I think that is the biggest slap in the face to the Daniel Bryans and Sheamuses and the other wrestlers who have given everything. Hell, even The Great Khali did more to earn that promo than The Rock did. Instead of giving that time to The Rock, they should have been giving time to wrestlers who will become the next Rock. The focal point of this Pay-Per-View was somebody who hasn’t been in a wrestling ring since Ric Flair was active (Wait…).
Relax. I’m not a hater. I’m happy to see The Rock. I loved the Mae Young skit, and I loved the PeeWee Herman thing. How do you not? What I have a problem with is making a person who should no longer be the focus being the focus. Roy Halladay may retire as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. But if every time he is supposed to pitch, he is replaced by Steve Carlton, he will never be able to take the spotlight he deserves. Rock, you are the Great One. But somewhere in that WWE locker room could be the next “Great One.” WWE, get him out of the way.
(I would like to say in his defense that The Rock never held another wrestler “down.” The dude put over The Hurricane. I don’t see him holding a wrestler down here. I just see him being over-utilized.)
The first match had some really nice drama. I love the submission hold and the drama of “Is he going to tap?” I was waiting for the Christian heel turn that never came. It was fun watching them destroy the car, but really, shouldn’t that have been done on Smackdown!?
Cody-Rey was a decently done match. I wanted to see Dusty (but it makes sense that he not appear in Atlanta, as there is no way that Atlanta crowd would boo “The American Dream”).
All the skits were pretty funny. I loved Regal rapping. I marked out like a 13-year-old girl when I saw Rowdy Roddy Piper (There are 3 wrestlers I mark out for: Piper, Undertaker & Arn Anderson). I loved Mae Young pinching the Rock’s “candy ass” and wanting the “People’s Strudel.” And of course, Pee Wee Herman and Mean Gene were great. I like the Rock/Stone cold face-off, but as I said previously, I’ve moved on.
The 8-man with the Corre was insulting to those 8 wrestlers who have given everything.
Orton-Punk stole the show, in-ring wise. I hope this feud is over. There were some incredible athletic things that happened here. Neither person lost anything in this match.
The Cole-Lawler… “whatever you want to call it” was fine and had some entertaining moments. I loved Swagger throwing in the towel and Austin looking at it clueless and then wiping his head with it. The image of Cole against the glass was great, too. Loved how there were 3 stunners. And the best part was JR-King calling the rest of the night.
The Undertaker-Triple H match was everything we had hoped it would be. The entrances were phenomenal. The drama was sensational. There was no announce table still left standing. Nobody interfered (and goodness knows, between the two’s sins, anybody could have attacked either one and be justified). The drama of HHH grabbing the sledgehammer and Taker putting him in the rear naked choke. (Young wrestlers, you take a look at the drama that can be created through a submission hold like ADR’s or Undertaker’s. You don’t need to do a 1260 splash onto plates of glass to get a crowd going.) Triple-H tapped out at Wrestlemania. The cart was a nice touch. The people I was there with and my timeline on Twitter couldn’t tell whether Taker was ok or not.
The Snooki match was everything it should have been. The former cheerleader did her backspring thing and then pinned Michelle McCool. A lot of people were complaining about this match going on next-to-last. This was the best possible match they could have placed there. I remember a very wise blogger saying “There are going to be some very emotional matches at Wrestlemania. Triple H-Undertaker is going to be a very emotional match, as will Edge-Del Rio and whatever else they come across. There needs to be a moment the crowd gets to unwind from the tension and emotion. Whether we like it or not, this is going to be one of those matches.” Somebody had to follow HHH-Taker. Would you rather it be a legitimate match or the Snooki “match?” They got their TMZ moment.
The main event was really disappointing. The best part about those was the video packages before-hand. The Miz video package, for lack of a better word, was awesome. The John Cena package was well-done, but the music was way too religious for his character. I’m sure nothing screams religious connotations nothing more than the “5-Knuckle Shuffle” or the “STFU.” (<-heavy sarcasm) I loved the choir, though I really couldn’t figure out their purpose. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I think his background kinda looked like a Confederate flag. John Cena just cannot win. First he becomes the target for GLAAD after dropping some homophobic slurs which we know he did not write. Now he gets to walk out to the ring with a Confederate flag-like logo while a predominantly-Black choir sings. Next, I think for an encore, he will kick puppies. The match wasn’t mind-blowing, but the two did a very good job with their intensity. I did pop for Rock reading the email from the Raw GM. I have no idea where they’re going with The Rock’s interference. Right now, I don’t really want to know.
According to a recent report on prowrestling.net, Kurt Angle says that he would go back to WWE right now if he could. His TNA contract expires next fall, and the Olympic gold medalist is said to be “unhappy with the creative direction of the company” and “does not have much faith in Jeff Jarrett’s lead.” The quote that provoked the strongest reaction, for me, at least, was that “He’s been vocal regarding his frustrations with creative both publicly and during conversations with Dixie Carter, and feelings of observers is that this is all leading toward a power struggle between Angle and Jarrett.”
ThinkSoJoE, JT, G, and Jorge return for another episode of BoredWrestlingFan Radio! Joe loses his mind, causing BWF’s RYTMAN to question his sanity in the comments of the live broadcast. Did Triple H really piss himself on RAW? Was John Cena vs. CM Punk really worthy of being shown on EVERY WWE SHOW this week? Was TNA worth watching? What was so “social” about SmackDown? In the news, we find out the whereabouts of Ted DiBiase Jr. We discuss possible Old School RAW participants. Darren Young injured? Ain’t nobody got time for that! Why is Donald Trump “Hulk Hogan creepy?” What could be a better name for a wrestling themed pizzeria than “Squared Circle?” What in the blue hell is the Harlem Shake, and will Joe be doing it at WrestleMania? All this and more on this week’s edition of BWF Radio!
