Official Pro-Wrestling Thread (WWE, TNA, ROH etc.)

[masterblaster]

Wrestling has been overshadowed for me anyway since news of Michael Jackson's passing but I realise that there is another PPV on the way and along with GIMH's predictions I'll go ahead and post mine.

CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy: World Heavyweight Championship Match

This for me has to be a CM Punk win and I think he will win under dubious circumstances so as to solidify his heel persona even more. I think CM Punk's character is fantastic. He's believable, he's subtle and just amazing in the ring. Even though I didn't like him losing to John Morrison I think WWE are handling his title reign just fine.

Randy Orton vs Triple H: WWE Championship Match

Please just end this now. I really hope Triple H doesn't go over here. What would it achieve for Triple H to win? But we said this at Wrestlemania and Triple H won, so who knows what WWE are thinking. I do think that Orton will retain and he should. Please just end this feud and let both Hunter and Orton feud with other more deserving people.

ECW Championship Scramble Match

This should be a good match and I enjoyed the Scramble concept last year. My tip this year is for Jack Swagger to win the belt as he has the most momentum and will be the young champion that will suit ECW. Would love Christian to win it and he might, but I'm tipping Swagger to win. I hope WWE start working towards a Edge vs Christian feud soon as both guys don't seem to have a whole lot to do.

Melina vs Michelle McCool

Michelle McCool should win here and hopefully feud with Gail Kim later on.

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio: Intercontinental Championship Match

This has been a great feud but no way Rey Mysterio is losing the mask. Rey Mysterio to win here and this could be match of the night again.

The Great Khali vs Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler and Khali have impressed me with their feud and the two work well together. I'm expecting Ziggler to get the win here. It won't be a great match, but probably won't be as bad as people think.

John Cena vs The Miz

Another surprising match here as Miz has been superb as of late. But never count against Cena on a PPV. Cena won't lose here and will win fairly easily.

Priceless vs The Colons: Undisputed Tag Team Championship Match

I have no idea who's going to win here. I'll go for The Colons here as they've been doing a good job with the belts.

 

[alternative]

Definitely the match to be watching was the tag team match, other wise was a boring PPV.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Haha bollocks. Rey-Jericho was one of the best matches of the year. Seriously awesome stuff there.

SmackDown! yet again brought the goods (though as much as I like Kane, I don't need to see him and Khali AGAIN), whilst the Raw part was mediocre.

 

[pinchy81]

Lillian Garcia is leaving the WWE when her contract is up

Hi Everyone,

I hope all of you are doing well! I am writing to address the situation in which WWE is looking for a Female Ring Announcer/Singer. The truth of the matter is that they are looking for someone new because I have given them my notice that I will be leaving at the end of my contract this year. It is with a heavy heart that I have made this decision because WWE has been my family from day one and you, the WWE Universe have always been incredible to me. The fact is that I am getting married later this year and have decided to enter into a new phase of my life but I will truly miss all of you and the WWE tremendously.

Love you all & keep rockin!

Forever Rockin',
Lilian :-)

 

[masterblaster]

Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio was absolutely awesome. Best match of the entire show. Jericho and Edge winning the tag team championships was a nice surprise too. The rest of the show was average at best.

 

[alternative]

Nah it was a good match, i just preferred the see Edge and Jericho winning the tag team though.

 

[GIMH]

I just watched it now and I've gotta say I enjoyed the bulk of the show. Rey V Jericho was one of the best matches of the year so far (I might pick my top five of the year so far in a bit actually seems as we're halfway through), even though it was obvious Mysterio was going to win the way the momentum of the match flowed made you doubt it.

I also loved the tag match bit. Once Teddy's music hit you just knew Y2J & edge were going to come out. What I really liked about the match though was the fact that the other teams were the main focus in-ring and got a chance to put on a good show. Edge & Jericho winning the belts makes me believe even more that they will take each other on at Summerslam, I know some people don't like titles being used as props, but all that these two holding the tag belts can do is elevate them surely, given their poor state at the minute.

I thought Jeff V Punk was decent, obviously not a classic but it achieved what it set out to do by furthering the whole unlucky Jeff angle and getting Punk over as a heel even more. I reckon we'll get another match out of these two at NOC, which is 4 weeks away rather than the usual 3!

HHH-Orton was much of a muchness, couldn't really get into it. The women's match was decent, cena-Miz was decent and Khali-Ziggler was entertaining.

All in all it was a good PPV, I enjoyed it.

 

[sledger]

Definitely the match to be watching was the tag team match, other wise was a boring PPV.

Disagree, the undercard of this ppv was exceptionally good imo.

Thoughts below...

ECW scramble - I actually thought this was very well done and very well put together by the road agents. Some excellent work by Christian and Swagger to set the tone, even Mark Henry looked good in this I thought. Some more solid work by Dreamer, whilst keeping his in ring deficiencies covered. Right man won as well imo, good start to the show.

Jericho v Rey -Can't believe that this was on the undercard, as others have said this was an absolutely explosive match, both guys at the top of their game, and they have great chemistry together. Again I think the right man won here, Rey needed the win and he picked it up. Wouldn't mind seeing this again.

Khali v Ziggler - Haha I actually enjoyed this, I thought both guys did a decent enough job, and my opinion of Ziggler has gone up massively, never really rated him before now, but will watch out for him in the future. Thought the finish was a bit rubbish, would rather Ziggler had just won with the chair, and then Kane came out and turned face and chased Ziggler off, I think Kane v Ziggler would make a good feud and be a good way to get Ziggler over, and nobody wants to see Kane v Khali again, last time was bad enough.

Cena v Miz - as expected really, I think both guys came out of this looking good, Cena with some good stuff in the ring and the Miz stepping up a level. Despite the loss the Miz will benefit from this as he has had massive exposure on TV and PPV and has helped establish himself on the roster. A feud with Kofi Kingston or MVP for the US title would probably be the next logical step. (Speaking of MVP, anyone get the impression that he is one of the guys who failed a recent wellness? As him losing his title to Kofi seemed a bit out of the blue and he didn't have a place on the ppv card)

Tag Team title match - Feel that this match buried Cody Rhodes and DiBiase a bit, but otherwise no problems. 6 guys who are all good to watch in the ring, and the twist of Jericho and Edge picking up the win is really interesting and exciting. I imagine this will lead to an Edge v Jericho feud, maybe Edge turning face after accidentily costing them the titles back to the colons later down the line. Edge v Jericho at summerslam anyone?

CM Punk v Jeff - feel this was a bit of a let down to be honest, neither guy really seemed to get out of first gear, which hopefully means that they will have a rematch later down the line and go all out. Didn't like the finish either, but appreciate they needed to work in something that would keep Punk on his tweener run.

HHH v Orton - fast forwarded through the first two falls as they just seemed completely uninteresting. Pleased with the result, but I really couldn't care less to be honest, HHH burying all of Legacy at the end with the Sledgehammer was a bit dire (though obviously not unexpected) and unfortunately means that this feud will probably continue.

 

[sledger]

Lillian Garcia is leaving the WWE when her contract is up

Bit of a shame, is kind of synonmous with WWE events, but I don't think she'll really be missed. Has had a pretty easy job for the last decade or so imo.

 

[sledger]

- WWE has changed the name of the October 4th PPV from no Mercy to "Hell in a Cell". WWE has been thinking about doing a PPV where the main events were all Cell matches, so this may be it.

I think this is absolutely rubbish, there is no way they can keep matches inventive with the cell concept in mind for an entire card of matches, by the time the main event comes round it will be really stale (unless all the spots have been saved - making the cell for the rest of the matches on the card completely pointless). Two elimination chamber matches at No Way Out each year is tedious enough, but this is a terrible idea in my opinion.

 

[GIMH]

I'm already starting to think about what we might see at NOC. obviously this a difficult PPV to book as every match has to be for a title, which means you either need to book some 3/4 ways or leave the likes of Triple H/Cena off the card. I think we'll see Jeff & Punk go at it again, other than that it's hard to call. I like the concept in theory, but having 2 women's matches and potentially leaving the likes of Miz, Morrison, Ziggler off the show, meh

 

[GIMH]

I think this is absolutely rubbish, there is no way they can keep matches inventive with the cell concept in mind for an entire card of matches, by the time the main event comes round it will be really stale (unless all the spots have been saved - making the cell for the rest of the matches on the card completely pointless). Two elimination chamber matches at No Way Out each year is tedious enough, but this is a terrible idea in my opinion.

Yeah, dunno what they are thinking. Having a predetermined HIAC show ruins the whole point of the match, given that it is meant to be the ultimate feud settler.

I don't mind the 2 elimination chambers at NWO though, although I think they should do it at a different PPV and use No Way Out to build towards the WM matches.

Anyway, here is something you may or may not want to read and provide your own version of. My top 5 matches of 09 so far.

5. Edge V John Cena (Backlash)
Unlike HHH and Orton, however many times these two go out at it they still put on a good show. The build-up to it was great, and it was a good example of how a LMS should go. It may be best remembered in future for the Big Slow's involvement, but up to that point I couldn't take my eyes off it.

4. Edge V Jeff Hardy (Extreme Rules)
Yeah, this was a top-quality ladder match, not much more to say really

3. Edge V John Morrison
Just a random TV match in theory, but really this was part of Morrison's big push that he's been getting of late as the week after he would of course cleanly defeat the WHC. Anyway, these two put on a great show, probably the best match of Morrison's career to date. I don't think I've deleted the Smackdown that it aired on from my Sky+ yet as I might well check it out again, or try and find a way of copying stuff from my Sky+ to disc or something

2. Chris Jericho V Ray Mysterio (The Bash)
I had really been enjoying the feud, but was wondering if it was maybe a match too far given they'd already given us three high-quality one-on-ones over the previous 6 weeks. Alas, it was their best yet, as they see-sawed with some imaginative spots and intuitive counters. Even though you knew Jericho was going to lose, the way the match went had you thinking he was going to win. Marvellous.

1. Shawn Michaels V Undertaker
Dunno if anyone saw or heard about this one, not a very famous match, go look it up.

I haven't caught much TNA this year so feel free to include them if you feel like doing your own list. Also anyone notice that these are all Smackdown matches, or at least include Smackdown wrestlers (with HBK & Cena being the only Raw representatives). Enough said.

 

[sledger]

Haha, unfortunately due to my lack of TV for the past couple of months I've only seen the top two matches you listed there, both great through no doubt, the Taker/HBK match probs the best I have ever seen, or if not, damn close to it.

I watched a bit of TNA Slammiversary the other night, quite enjoyed it, but got to say, Kurt Angle is in dire need of a shave, having stubble all over his face and beard somehow just makes him look very small and strange, not like the bald headed Kurt Angle everyone knows at all.

 

[GIMH]

still pissed off about Slammiversary failing on my Sky+ as I wanted to watch the main event

 

[sledger]

Haha the King of the Mountain concept just annoys me to be honest, its just overbooking to the extreme, and a blatant attempt to be grossly different to the WWE. Don't get me wrong, being different to the WWE is how TNA should attempt to progress, but there is such a thing as trying too hard, but oh well, at least Mick Foley isn't their world champion anymore, that has to be a step in the right direction.

 

[GIMH]

TBH I've never seen a King of the Mountain match, but when my mate who I mentioned in this thread a few rounds was here the other week, he was telling me about it. He was saying it's one of the silliest match ideas ever, etc etc. He then rang me a couple of nights later saying that in spite of all he said, it had been a really good match. He's never been wrong when telling me I'll enjoy a match, in the 15 years or so he has been lending me wrestling tapes and what not, so I trust his judgement, dunno.

In other news, booked myself a holiday from work for the end of August today. Serves a dual purpose, gives me the 5th Ashes Test off and also the day after Summerslam. Me thinks cricket, BBQ, then beers, then wrasslin

 

[sledger]

TBH I've never seen a King of the Mountain match, but when my mate who I mentioned in this thread a few rounds was here the other week, he was telling me about it. He was saying it's one of the silliest match ideas ever, etc etc. He then rang me a couple of nights later saying that in spite of all he said, it had been a really good match. He's never been wrong when telling me I'll enjoy a match, in the 15 years or so he has been lending me wrestling tapes and what not, so I trust his judgement, dunno.

In other news, booked myself a holiday from work for the end of August today. Serves a dual purpose, gives me the 5th Ashes Test off and also the day after Summerslam. Me thinks BBQ, then beers, then wrasslin

Yeah I think what annoys me is that it may as well be a ladder match, putting something at the top of the ladder doesn't really strike me as being any different of an achievement, at least in a ladder match you get the sense that there is an urgency to retrieve something and the first to do so wins whatever....The idea of hanging the belt up there undermines this for me and just seems a bit pointless, why would anyone need to hang it up there?! I know its-pro wrestling and so things should not be expected to make sense, but still. The pinfalls and the penalty box aspect of the match is also just horribly confusing.

What I found funny though, that in their promo video for the match buildup, pretty much all of their archive footage for King of the Mountain matches (that didn't show Jeff Jarret burying people) was pretty much made up of Ron Killings and Sean Waltman.

 

[GIMH]

TBH the one thing I don't like about the end of this particular match was that I don't think this is how Foley should have lost the belt. Look at Foley's career, he has made a career of making people looking great, of being the kingmaker.

Austin, Rock & HHH all got over as champions for the first time against Foley, so TNA could have really put someone young over by having them win the strap cleanly from Foley in a singles match. I'm not amazingly familiar with their roster, but Styles or Joe maybe? Could have been huge, nevermind, as much as I love Angle it seems to be WCW2000 style from TNA with the way they book the main event.

That being said, having seen clips on Impact this last week, it was a good finish, can see where masterblaster was coming from when he likened it to WWF 98.

 

[sledger]

TBH the one thing I don't like about the end of this particular match was that I don't think this is how Foley should have lost the belt. Look at Foley's career, he has made a career of making people looking great, of being the kingmaker.

Austin, Rock & HHH all got over as champions for the first time against Foley, so TNA could have really put someone young over by having them win the strap cleanly from Foley in a singles match. I'm not amazingly familiar with their roster, but Styles or Joe maybe? Could have been huge, nevermind, as much as I love Angle it seems to be WCW2000 style from TNA with the way they book the main event.

That being said, having seen clips on Impact this last week, it was a good finish, can see where masterblaster was coming from when he likened it to WWF 98.

Good point RE: Foley, but I imagine what will happen is that at some stage (maybe to end Foley in the company) they will have some very brutal hardcore based match in which he will put over a young gun, would really like to see one of the following with both guys going all out - Foley vs one of Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Jay Leathal or AJ, could be awesome. That said, the fact that Mick Foley continues to challenge guys to dangerous matches "when he gets serious" and then continually gets beaten may kind of ruin the credibility somewhat? Possibly perhaps...but imo Foley can make anyone look like a million dollars.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, so true, he could make me look amazing I reckon. Wish he was retired, though.