Tag Archive: Crowds

  1. RYTMAN’S RAW RECAP/REVIEW – 04/08/2013

    2 Comments

    Let’s do something a little different.  Instead of going segment by segment, I’m going to summarize each storyline in regards to how it was played out on the show, and offer my comments where I feel the need.

    1.) CENA VS. MARK HENRY: THE RISE OF RYBACK – So we kicked off RAW with a word from our new WWE champion, John Cena.  Jersey is NOT part of the CE-Nation, and their response makes it clear.  Cena plays off the crowd’s hostility by joking about all the great things that come with being champ, like the applause.  Cena offers to dance for the crowd, using this as context for teasing a “heel-turn,” and offers a title shot to whoever wants one tonight.  Mark Henry comes out to take him up on it.  Booker T comes out and says Henry has to beat Cena in a match to get a title shot.

    Let’s fast forward to our main event, Cena vs. Henry.  Less than a minute in, it spills out of the ring to the outside.  Both men tease a table spot (which is a whole friggin thing in itself we’ll get to.) Henry sends Cena into the post.  Cena whips Henry into the stairs AND GETS THE WIN BY COUNT OUT.  OUR “MAIN EVENT” BARELY WENT FIVE MINUTES AND MORE THAN THREE SPOTS!!!

    Henry responds to this by laying out Cena (much to the crowds’ delight,) and hoisting the belt up.  Ryback comes out and runs off Henry.  Ryback glares at Cena and the crowd gets excited.  Ryback helps Cena up and the crowd gets less excited.  Ryback gets a “FEED ME MORE,” chant going and CENA TAKES A CLOTHESLINE!  Ryback gives the champ the Shell-shock and holds the belt up to a cheering crowd as RAW ends.

    Rytman Remarks: So, Henry, the only established heel at Wrestlemania who won a singles match, has to beat Cena in a non-title match, to get a title shot?

    Fine

    Booker T, General Manager of Smackdown, can dictate who gets WWE title shots on RAW?

    Fine

    The match itself can’t have more than five spots and go more than five minutes?

    Okay, Fine.

    BUT NOW YOU’RE GOING TO GIVE THE PUSH TO THE GUY YOU BOOKED TO CHOKE IN EVERY BIG MATCH YOU PUT HIM IN?  GIVING HENRY A SHOT WOULD BRING ABOUT THE END OF ALL LIFE IN THE WWE UNIVERSE OR SOMETHING!?

    I seriously don’t know why I’m still watching this crap.

    2.) ORTON/SHEAMUS BOTH WANT BIG SHOW – Orton, backstage in Vicki’s office w/her and Brad Maddox, demands a match w/Big Show, wanting payback for what happened at Mania.  “Briki” (Brad and Vicki) agrees, reminding Sheamus he’d owe them a big favor for this.

    Later in the show, Randy Orton goes to Booker T, asking HIM for a shot at big show, saying it was his mistake to trust big show, and wants to make good on it.  When Booker tells him Vicki already made the match w/Sheamus, he brown-noses Booker into over-ruling Vicki, on the grounds he’s a GM, and she’s a Managing Supervisor.  Booker decides to make it happen.

    Later, we get a pre-recorded interview from Natalya with Big Show.  Show blames his team-mates for what happened, saying they turned on him by not giving him the hot tag.  Show says from now on, he’s all about the Big Show.

    Later in the show, both Orton and Sheamus came out to the ring and asked the crowd who’d they like to see kick Big Show’s ass.  Cole tells us to use the WWE ACTIVE APP and vote on Twitter for who we want.  One commercial break later, Booker and Vicki come out together on the same page, making a Sheamus vs. Orton match w/the winner getting Big Show, making the Twitter thing totally irrelevant.

    The match itself is hard fought, and both men hit their major spots, but it ends with the Big Show taking matters into his own hands.  He tosses Sheamus away like nothing and BRUTALIZES Randy Orton for about twenty minutes.  Orton is pounded on, and tossed around like a sack of rag-dolls.  Show tosses Orton hard over the announce table into the seats, and then tosses the seats all over the place.  Show leaves Orton broken on the ground, and walks off to a hero’s reception from the crowd. (This crowd was another whole thing we’ll get to.)

    Rytman Remarks: Orton and Randy are fighting over who gets to beat up the guy they didn’t trust in the first place, but teamed up with anyway and then lost the match because they didn’t tag him, and he got mad and punched them out.  Gotcha! 

    The interesting thing is, during the interview with Natalya, Show played hurt by his team not trusting him, like he really wanted to be part of something, and pulled it off pretty damn well.  I actually felt bad for him.    

     3.) ALBERTO DEL RIO VS JACK SWAGGER & ZEB COULTER: YOUR WINNER, DOLPH ZIGGLER! – World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez,) faced Swagger in a handicap match w/Zeb Coulter as Swagger’s partner.  Before the match, Zeb took the mike and actually pleaded with the crowd for their support.  He even got a small “USA” chant going.  The match was primarily Del Rio and Swagger with Zeb hanging back on the outside.  Del Rio managed to win it, but Swagger had worked the ankle/leg the whole match and Del Rio had ringside attendants looking at him.

    Cue Dolph Ziggler.

    Dolph chose that moment to Cash in his MiTB briefcase on Del Rio.  Del Rio managed to muster up enough offense to get Ziggler in the Cross-Arm-Breaker.  Ziggler escaped by working the injured ankle and won with a Zig-Zag for the three.  Later in the show, Ziggler is interviewed, saying it’s “about damn time” this happened.

    Rytman Remarks: during the whole match, the crowd chanted “we want Ziggler,” until he finally came out.  I’m thinking Del Rio and Swagger are both gonna sit out a few shows.

     4.) UNDERTAKER PROMO: IN THE SIGHTS OF THE SHIELD – Undertaker comes out to do a promo.  He talks about dedicating his win to Paul Bearer…

    SIERRA, HOTEL, INDIA, ECHO, LIMA, DELTA, BELIVE IN THE SHIELD

    The Shield makes their way towards the Dead-man.  They’ve got Taker surrounded when the pyro goes off and Team Hell No (Kane and Bryan) run out to offer back up.  The Shield calls it a night and head off.

    Rytman Remarks: A feud w/the Undertaker to set up a program with the tag team champions?  I like it, which is why it won’t happen.

     5.) FAHHHHN-DAHHHN-GO-OW! – So Fandango got a rematch with Kofi Kingston, from last month when he was supposed to debut on RAW.  The match goes less than ten minutes before Chris Jericho runs out and beats down Fandango, who gets the win by DQ.  After the match, Fandango still has enough in him to take a mike and do the bit with his name.

    Rytman Remark: I’ll give the guy credit for sticking with it, but I’m thinking the last dance is coming up soon.

    6.) “A BAD NIGHT FOR PAUL HEYMAN GUYS.” – Paul Heyman gets interviewed about how bad Wrestlemania went for him.  Heyman points out that Triple H finished the night with a broken (which we saw earlier in an exclusive,) arm and Shawn Michaels got his face smashed in.  He says Lesnar is here and ready to fight, but not for free.  He tells us C.M. Punk will speak for himself… next week, swerving the disappointed crowd.

    Now let’s look at the results from the few “filler” matches…

    BIG E. LANGSTON DEF DANIEL BRYAN – High point was Big E. tossing Bryan over the top rope onto Kane.

    Rytman Remark: Would’ve made sense to book this match BEFORE MANIA!

    WADE BARRETT DEF. THE MIZ – BARRETT NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION

    Rytman Remark: Decent match but I’m not expecting Barrett’s stock to skyrocket.  There was a noticeable “botch” when Miz went for the knee-drop/neck-breaker combo and Barrett dropped too soon. (Michael Cole, at ringside, tried to sell it as a “sit-out” attempt by Barrett.)

    R-TRUTH, RYDER, AND SANTINO MORELLA DEF 3MB

    RR; Went maybe seven minutes and was more of an actual match then the main event.

    TONS OF FUNK/THE FUNKADAYCTALS DEF THE BELLA SISTERS/TEAM RHODES SCHOLARS

    RR; High point was Brie/Nikki giving “Sweet T” a double butt-bump to the head.

    A few other points of interest…

    One guy in the crowd managed to get his “WE WANT PAGE” sign on camera almost all night.  Apparently, we can’t get her jobbing out to AJ and the Bella Sisters fast enough.

    There seemed to be a contract out on the announcers table tonight.  It wound up collateral damage in almost every brawl tonight.  (Big Show’s rampage, Jericho’s payback, maybe during Del Rio Swagger,) In the Main Event, Cena and Henry both teased putting each other through it but never came across.

    And now, we get to the real stars of this show…

    This fucking crowd

    Credit where it’s due, these folks decided they were going to have some kind of fun at this show and they did, to the detriment of the WWE.  Some of their highlights included “singing along” to Fandango’s music and cheering for RVD, Randy Savage, and anyone/thing other than Sheamus or Orton during their match.

    Overall, this was a weird RAW.  It had some high points, but it wasn’t the best follow-up to a lackluster Mania.

    Smackdown, the ball’s in your court.

  2. pintnoir Impact wrestling review 2-16-12 The Aftermath of AAO

    Leave a Comment

    We start the show with a replay of the pay per view where we watch Bobby Roode retain the World Title after infuriating Sting by spitting on him. This causes a hoopla the results in Sting swinging and missing Roode and yet hitting Jeff Hardy with the title belt.  And being forced to count the three. Welcome to iMPACT wrestling.

    The Leader of the Selfish Generation comes to the ring to brag about still wearing the strap. He even has the lovely Christe Hemme announce him twice and delusionally hears the crowds jeers and boos and thinks their cheering his name. Roode sounds so much like Boo who could blame him. This is of course followed by Steve with mic in hand. He announces that Roode will have a rematch against Hardy tonight! In a No Time Limit, No Disqualification match. And it starts after the break.

    Roode (c) vs Hardy: Hardy comes out strong taking out his frustrations out on the selfish one. Hardy basically owns Roode for the majority of the match. That is until Hardy goes for a whisper in the wind, which Roode counters with a ref bump into the ropes. Before unceremoniously baseball slides Hardy to the outside. After a momentary breather Roode heads outside to piledrive Hardy on the ramp which is reversed into a back toss. Hardy is getting fired up throws Roode into the ring, takes off his shirt…only to be jumped from behind by Angle. He throws Jeff into the steps before throwing him back into the ring where Roode is waiting with a spear for the three. Still your champion Bobby Roode.

    We next have a somber moment about Jesse Sorenson who was injured at AAO when Zema Ion land knee first on the top of his head. Compacted C1 vertabrae which left him numb from the waist down but four days later he seems to be recovering nicely and hopefully he will soon return to wrestling.

    Speaking of Zema Ion he has a X Division tag team match where the hairsprayed one teams with A Double to take on Alex Shelley and Shannon Moore? The question mark is for Moore who just seems randomly thrown in but more than likely it was supposed to be Sorenson who is injured. This as usual is a exciting match with the similar but conflicting personas of Ion and Aries attempting to co-exist with there massive egos in the ring. Spots where Shannon grabs the hairspray and using it causing Ion to baseball slide kick him in the back from inside the ring was a good show of his heel nature. Eventually Aries gets ready to put away Shelley but is unknowingly tagged from behind by Ion who sneaks in and rolls up Shelley for the win.

    Yeah Gail Kim and Madison Rayne are coming to the ring next for what should be entertainment. (sigh) But what we get is them sitting ringside as a Knockouts Over the top Battle Royal takes place. We have TNT, The sitas, Mickie, Winter Love, ODB and Favorite Velvet Sky.  I have to state right now that I stopped reading spoilers on Impact a couple of months ago so here I was hoping for Sarita against all hope. Well after an exhausting nail biter we have Sarita standing against..Velvet?! No words for this. Velvet tricks Sarita like Wyle E. Coyote by allowing her to charge at her before dropping down causing her to fly out of the ring. (huh) Velvet does a quick celebration before Madison charges in and dumps her over. Come to find out that Madison announced before the match while standing in the ring that everyone in this ring is wrestling for the #1 contendership. Even with Vince Russo officially gone from TNA we still get a swerve. Gail who is in shock screams at Madison who points at her signifying her crown. Thank you TNA for giving me hope before dashing it.

    When overated is beaten by

    Magnus and Joe comment on being Champions before the rematch is announced for next week. A Garett adn Gunner segment is played meaning the return  of Eric B. triumphant. I’ll pass. But for some reason we see Chelsea, former vale for Desmond Wolfe accompany them.

    Oh and a promo interview with soem dude sporting his 60 minutes (his words) style MMA show. Which by the way should have us all excited.

    Eric Young is ready to redeem himself for not calling or acknowledging ODB on Valentines Day. Yeah, more filler to pad the show.But don’t worry they eventually make up after he sings her an Ode to ODB, I really wish we could have some purpose other than comedy for ODB and EY.

    mediocrity

    Main Event: James Storm vs Bully Ray- #1 contenders match.

    We have two wonderful contenders in a predictable match. We all know the endgame for Roode, which is his partner James Storm. But this is a nice distraction. Ray really goes all old school heel getting the heat he needs to push the crowd in Storm’s favor. Stripping The Cowbow down to his bare leg goes to work on the leg. Storm who is taking a beating is finally allowed some offense when Ray brags to much take a shot in the mouth. Before you know it Storm hits the Last Call for the three and his chance at Roode. At ringside sits Brandon Jacobs of the NY Giants, Storm calls him out to celebrate. before you know it Ray comes in and belts Storm from behind. Bullying Jacobs before spitting beer in his face. This sets off Jacobs who shoves Ray leading the to the always slow D’lo, Simon D, and Al snow who dart to pull Jacobs off Ray.

    Backstage Captain Obvious (Wonder Years) interviews Storm and jacobs basically detailing the entire scenario over again after just seeing the events. Jacobs who’s first lines are incoherent seems to play along. Next Steve comes out to announce when Roode will face Storm.

    Calling out Roode he tells him he has no where to run because Storm will face him in Nashville, TN at Lockdown.  Roode quietly and suddenly kicks STing in the balls. Then knees him in them for good measure before blasting him with the belt

  3. MPX-Fight to Survive 3-12-11

    Leave a Comment

    Fight to Survive is in the books. In the end, I thought it was very solid. The theme there is that a lot of workers are giving everything and experimenting in new ways in the ring (and some of them, outside it). It was PACKED. Every time I go, it seems to get more crowded. This is great news. It opened with a well-done recap. And then Kate introduced $Payday$. I don’t think $Payday$ has done a lot of promos, so what he said was fine. But how he said it lacked. Speaking to a crowd is not easy, and I probably couldn’t do too much better. But I would suggest giving him a mouthpiece or creating an essence to his character to where he doesn’t need to speak. (“A man of few words”, “He’s not there to speak, just to get his payday.”) $Payday$ wanted Carrion Arcane. Mike Dolenz told him that Arcane was already booked. But $Payday$ could have his match. Only it was going to be against Wally Darkmon. For me, this didn’t have the same drama. Wally and $Payday$ are both good guys. While I like getting to see both guys in the ring, it just was not the match I wanted to see (because as a fan, I want both guys to win).

    First match: Ironheart vs. Carrion Arcane w/”The Angel of Mercy” Claudia

    This was my first time to see Ironheart. Arcane was talking about “she was coming” and apparently, that Claudia. It’s nice that MPX has a valet, as women never hurt (but please don’t get “divas”). Her look is very gothic/Suicide Girl-ish. It is a great fit for Arcane. The match was solid. Claudia is a good throw-back to the old Woman/Nancy Benoit-type valet. And after Claudia attacked Ironheart with red mist, Arcane scored the pin.

    Winner: Arcane

    Second match: Kenny Steele vs. Ben Wylde w/Kyle Davis

    This match was a lot better than I thought it would be. Steele is improving both in the ring and in his persona. Steele has great facials, and he’s learned other things than telling crowds he has abs. I saw something out of Steele tonight. He is an amazing athlete and has a heel charisma that you can’t teach. I can see him going places. I’m also loving the Kyle Davis aspect. Ben made him wear this green hat that was worth a million laughs in and of itself. I’m thinking this is probably my favorite storyline in MPX. The two wrestled a nice story of Steele not being able to bodyslam Wylde because he was injured. It was also a good way of Steele losing without making him look weak.

    Winner: Wylde

    Third match: Cash & Carry vs. Lucha Lucha & some masked guy

    When Cash & Carry, came out with a grocery cart full of fun, I knew it was going to be a fun match. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been spoiled with seeing Necro Butcher through the years. The hardcore match was probably the un-stiffest hardcore match I’ve ever seen. I’m ok with it. I understand most of these guys are green. And I’d rather see them again, so I have to say it was fun. There was some nice plunder in this match: a baseball bat, lots of chairs (Lucha found a chair that had the Corona logo. Nice touch.), a bowling ball, a vuvuzela/”Grenade whistle” (of all things), stop sign, garbage can, grocery cart. The match was full of several OMG moments. Zach the Muscle at one point either got his bell ring or is the best seller ever. Also, there was a moment in the match where Zach attacked the masked man and he smiled a really saddistic smile. They can go a lot of places with this. I saw a little bit of of that Cactus Jack in him. I would like to see his character evolve a little bit more in that direction. He has the size to where I can see him going places. At one point, Cash & Carry found Kris Haiden out in the crowd and asked him if he wanted to hit Lucha or masked guy. He said no and this laid the groundwork for his face turn that night. This may not have been IWA-Mid South King of the Deathmatch Tournament-worthy, but IWA-MS isn’t running anymore, and a lot of those fighters aren’t fighting anymore. Not bad for a first hardcore match.

    Winner: Lucha & Masked Man (I will call them Team Enmascarado)

    During the intermission, the wrestlers continued their mingling with the crowd. This is one of their strongest aspects. It’s good for the kids. After the intermission came the 6-Man Elimination match.

    Fourth match: James Hawke vs. Zero the Antihero vs. WASP w/Kyle Valo vs. Regrub vs. Headbanger Gregory James vs. Carlos Esquivel (with Ryan Gauge as the special ref)

    This was a very multi-layered match with a lot of storylines. This is difficult to weave together and I thought the booking was nicely-done. So forgive me for missing some of the highlights. Carlos and Zero have a good dynamic and chemistry. It reminded me of that moment in “The Wrestler” when Randy “The Ram” asks the Ayatollah how they’re going to do their match. Ayatollah says “I’m the heel. You’re the face. Any questions?”

    James Hawke cut a nice promo where he apologized for his attack on Frankie Fisher. I waiting for “It will neeeeever eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever happen again” but no Jericho heel turn for now. We do Streamers for Zero. I love the Japanese/ROH tribute. Also, WASP was a very engaging heel, getting the crowd going and making fun of Regrub for breaking up pins when it was an elimination match. Ryan Gauge who had been previously in a sling, took off his cast and revealed his arm was just fine. Then he attacked WASP and made sure he was pinned. It is difficult to comment on all the dynamics as it was complex. The match ended when James Hawke made Regrub tap out. This meant something and made Hawke look very strong to make the monster Regrub tap out.

    Winner: Hawke

    After the match, WASP and Valo came out of the back informed Headbanger he was going to be fighting in a handicap match. Kate whispered something to Headbanger and then announced that it would be an inter-gender match: WASP & Valo vs. Headbanger & Kate. I will give MPX the benefit of the doubt, but I HATE inter-gender matches. The only one I’ve ever seen done right is Beulah-Bill Alphonso in ECW.

    Fifth match: $Payday$ vs. Wally Darkmon

    There were two kids behind me last night that were really into the whole show. $Payday$ saw them on his way to the ring and danced with them. This is awesome. A wrestling promotion always needs wrestlers to dance with the kids. There was a watershed moment in Mark Henry’s life when Andre the Giant brought him to the ring and danced with him. It’s hard to remember sometimes that they are what it’s all about.

    The match between the two wrestlers was really good. I think this is $Payday$’s best match yet in MPX. Wally is such a pro that it was a fun match, even though it was face vs. face. As a fan, I was a little torn, because I don’t want to watch either lose. There were hand shakes for everybody. Wally gives 100%, and it is evident from his matches. The match was declared a no contest when Carrion Arcane attacked both. (I’m ok with no contests and dq’s and all that. It’s when a wrestling company does the same finish over and over again that it becomes boring, aka TNA.)

    Winner: No contest

    Sixth match: Matt Andrews (c) vs. Barrett Brown

    This was my first time to see Barrett Brown live. He looks all of 13 years old, but he has a great focus and ring presence. His intensity reminded me a lot of Chris Benoit’s. The Matt Andrews title reign continues. He is quickly becoming a lot like Gollum with his belt. That is as it should be. He makes the belt seem important. This was a really good match. Brown was very impressive in the ring, and I hope to get to see him again. Andrews submitted Brown for the victory.

    Winner: Matt Andrews

    After the match, Mike Dolenz announced that Andrews would be defending his belt at the next show. After attacking him, Kris Haiden came to his rescue. He then cut a really great promo about one thing he learned from his time there is that the boys in the MPX were some of the toughest SOB’s he’d ever seen. This was a GREAT face turn. I can’t think of the last time I saw a face turn this good in wrestling. In a show of support, the MPX roster unanimously supported Haiden’s reinstatement and receiving a title shot. It was an emotional moment.

    For more about Metroplex wrestling, click here.

    For my complete blog where I talk about wrestling, MMA and anything else I’m inspired to, click here. To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.