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

[Barney Rubble]

SmackDown thoughts as I'm watching it:

- Like the new SmackDown theme and intro, and the crowd are hot tonight for the debut on MyNetworkTV. Huge pops for all the faces in the opening eight-man tag.
- Nice little Hurricane Helms appearance there. Can't wait for his return, I really can't. Glad they might give him a chance to do a bit of comedy when he gets back - a tag team of Hurricane Helms and Scotty Goldman, anyone? Would be hilarious, IMO.
- Love that Kane is still getting big pops, even as a heel.
- Kendrick's entrance is great. Love the music, love his weird dancing, love him. They've hit the money with this gimmick in the long run, I think.
- Eight-man tag was okay, the finishing sequence was very well-executed with everyone taking their turn to come in, take someone out and then get taken out themselves. Jeff got the fall, too, which was the right thing to do given that he's got the title match to think about.
- Only interesting thing about the Big Show vs Undertaker angle is Chavo's face turn.
- Haha, more Hurricane Helms, surprised that the Honky Tonk Man isn't dead. Nice burial there.
- Santino! "In case you've been hiding under JR's hat for the last year and a half...", "Put up the Honk-A-Meter!", "6.71 weeks!", "the Goldilocks, Shelton Benjamin", "champion of all the land masses that protrude above sea level..." - this man is just so, so good.
- R-Truth vs Shelton continues to progress well. Giving Shelton a proper feud to get his teeth into is a great sign. Looking forward to this one's development.
- Love that everyone still goes ape**** for 'Taker's gong. It's so legendary.
- Huge pop for Carlito and Primo. Great to see them getting over.
- Huge pop for Punk too. Love his music, fits him so well. Glad they never used it for Orton.
- Cody Rhodes wrestles with a Legend of Zelda-style Triforce symbol on his boots. What a guy. Also, he's a three-time Tag Team Champion. Weird.
- Carlito brought it tonight, good to see. Great plancha over the top rope onto Manu.
- Few botches in the McCool vs Phoenix match so far. Also, Maria does not look good tonight, rare miss for her. Not a great match overall, but I appreciate they needed to get the Divas on the show, so I see why they made it a Lumberjack Match.
- Ridiculous refereeing mistake by Charles Robinson in the Main Event - why on Earth would you start counting when all three men went down to the mat during a Triple Threat Match? If two of them make the count but one doesn't, do they share the victory? Triple Threat Matches are No-DQ, No-Countout, any ref should be able to adhere to that without a second thought, especially one as experienced as Little Naitch.
- Hardy was made to look strong during the match, but the ending was stupid. Hardy gets on a great roll against Jericho, then immediately turns into a Pedigree and loses. Decent match though. Jericho wanting revenge for Triple H's part in the post-RAW beatdown was a nice touch, as was Jeff saving Matt from a beatdown, although I wish they'd stop doing that. Matt needs to stand on his own two feet for once.
- They continue to book Kozlov smartly. We've seen him crush jobbers for months, now we're seeing a real mean streak. Impressed with the man, very impressed.

 

[duffer]

Main Event was on at work again. So here's No Mercy as I'm watching it:

-Hardy v Henry: Short but good enough I guess. Are these guys the only two ME on ECW? Seems like they've been feuding for ages going by the PPV's. Happy Hardy won I guess.

-Beth v Candice: Makes sense to keep the gold on Glammarella, glad they did it.

-Kane v Rey: Very enjoyable match for mine, one sick spot where Rey countered a sidewalk slam into a sick inverted neckbreaker. Very very well worked, and was made to loo belivable. DQ finish sucks, but I guess Kane didn't want to job to a midget and Rey was never going to lose his mask. Finish was Kane on the outside playing possum, Rey goes for a big big leap off the turnbuckle and is greeted by a HUGE chair shot in mid air. Really out of nowhere spot.I liked it, apart from the fact that this can't be the end of the feud.

-Really liked the MVP v Orton/Priceless segment. They're really branching out on these references to outside the ring activity big time. Teasing a Priceless v Orton feud, DiBiase Jr was very good on the mic but they really are burying MVP.

-Batista v JBL: Was ugly, very very ugly to watch. Felt bad for JBL having to take all of the big bumps and then be squashed. I'm thankful they kept this short, but on the flipside we now get another month of Batista in the Main Event. Bradhsaw thanking Congress for bailing him out was beautiful, drew a ridiculous amount of heat from a previously meh crowd. Then came Cryme Tyme and Slaughter Must see for people once it gets on youtube.

-Taker v Big Show: Far far better than I expected. Big Show selling a Taker leg drop off the apron as though it was a Ric Flair chop was hilarious to watch though. Taker worked his ass off to try and make this good and almost succeeded with a couple of good spots like reversing a chokelsam into a DDT. Big Show winning by TKO was a shock though. Looks like this will continue then.

-Hardy v Triple H: Great match, first one on the card with two proper "wrestlers" in it. Triple H kicking out of the Whisper in the wind was infuriating but it could not compare to Jeff hitting a twist of fate, swanton and then having his cover reversed into a small package and Triple H picking up a miraculous victory. He really is taking the piss, I laughed when he got the pin. I fear this is what will be done to Edge when he eventually returns, but I guess Kozlov is next in the firing line.

-Jericho v HBk: Are you kidding me? Holy crap this was awesome. Some incredible spots, most of which saw Jericho take the major impact. And I guess he had to if he was going to get the win here. Cade interference thankfully didn't decide it, but this was superb. Absolutely superb. Worth ordering the replay just for this. I think this was the best match out of the entire series, incredible stuff and Jericho is now over so strong but I think he'll be made to job to Batista at SS unfortunately.

All in all a very good show. One ***** match, two very good matches, 2 average matches, one stinker and a few good promo's. Only disappointment was that I thought they could have had Shelton v Truth on here at some level. But the ME made this PPV worth it by itself. Was awesome. Congrats to those men.

EDIT: Actually just watched the Taker-Show match again and I really liked it second time around. Achieved everything they needed to continue the feud and the amount of heat Show got was impressive. Made him look a big time monster again.

 

[masterblaster]

Is it a coincidence that the standard of WWE's television and PPV's and the overall standard of their matches goes up once Chris Jericho comes back and is given the ball to run with?

It's not a coincidence at all.

Raw is Jericho, wait scratch that...

WWE is Jericho, nope hold on...

At the moment,

Professional Wrestling is Jericho.

He is the most valuable player in any wrestling company on the planet. Just amazed how good he continues to be despite almost being out of the industry for 2 years.

 

[DJellett]

Im Meeting Cena On Sunday !! Wooooooooooo

 

[sledger]

What a guy, so glad they gave the ladder match the ME slot too, feared it would go on after the HHH match (and yeah, agree with duffer about the finish, wtf...) But props to Jericho, and HBK, stellar match, that and the Edge vs Taker HIAC are the best matches I have seen in ages...aaaages.

 

[sledger]

On another note, at about 2am last night I turned the TV over onto the wrestling channel and watched a Mickie James match from several years ago whilst she was in WEW, shows how far she has come up in the world.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Is it a coincidence that the standard of WWE's television and PPV's and the overall standard of their matches goes up once Chris Jericho comes back and is given the ball to run with?

It's not a coincidence at all.

Raw is Jericho, wait scratch that...

WWE is Jericho, nope hold on...

At the moment,

Professional Wrestling is Jericho.

He is the most valuable player in any wrestling company on the planet. Just amazed how good he continues to be despite almost being out of the industry for 2 years.

Jericho or Edge? The fact that I'm a huge Edge mark clouds the decision for me. One thing is for certain - when the opportunity arises, THAT FEUD HAS TO HAPPEN. I don't care how many guys they have to move around to make it happen, how many face or heel turns need to happen, how many titles have to change hands.

Edge vs Chris Jericho - a proper title feud, not like the short mid-card feud they had in 2004 - could be earth-shatteringly brilliant. Both guys are unfathomably talented in every aspect of wrestling, future Hall of Famers without a doubt.

Most that should be said about No Mercy has already been said - very, very impressed with the Triple H-Jeff Hardy match. I can't understand those who say Hardy can't wrestle a straight-up, no-stips wrestling match - when he and Triple H go head-to-head again at WrestleMania XXV and Jeff finally wins, that match will go down in history.

 

[duffer]

Jericho or Edge? The fact that I'm a huge Edge mark clouds the decision for me. One thing is for certain - when the opportunity arises, THAT FEUD HAS TO HAPPEN. I don't care how many guys they have to move around to make it happen, how many face or heel turns need to happen, how many titles have to change hands.

Edge vs Chris Jericho - a proper title feud, not like the short mid-card feud they had in 2004 - could be earth-shatteringly brilliant. Both guys are unfathomably talented in every aspect of wrestling, future Hall of Famers without a doubt.

Most that should be said about No Mercy has already been said - very, very impressed with the Triple H-Jeff Hardy match. I can't understand those who say Hardy can't wrestle a straight-up, no-stips wrestling match - when he and Triple H go head-to-head again at WrestleMania XXV and Jeff finally wins, that match will go down in history.

I wouldn't mind another big time cross-brand feud for WM, problem is that these two are both so hot as heels right now that I wouldn't ant either of them going near a face turn unless they are showing signs of getting stale or are getting tweener pops.

Then again we saw a great little face-face feud between Trips and Hardy with both of them showing heelish qualities at stages (especially Hunter, who wrestled heel style during their match). So a heel/heel feud with two guys this over could be good.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I wouldn't mind another big time cross-brand feud for WM, problem is that these two are both so hot as heels right now that I wouldn't ant either of them going near a face turn unless they are showing signs of getting stale or are getting tweener pops.

Then again we saw a great little face-face feud between Trips and Hardy with both of them showing heelish qualities at stages (especially Hunter, who wrestled heel style during their match). So a heel/heel feud with two guys this over could be good.

I'm not necessarily suggesting it should happen now - maybe sometime next year, once both guys' current programs have ended and the post-Mania dust has settled. For now, they're the two hottest heels in the business and should absolutely be kept right where they are.

 

[duffer]

Khali ramming his tongue down Lillian was disturbing yet enormously entertaining in a way Viscera could never achieve. I dunno what was funnier, him raising his arms in victory afterwards or telling Lilian that he'd call her.

Miz and Morrison were excellent too and you can see why they're picking up wins over Cryme Tyme.

Bu yeah, a poor RAW for mine. Which when Batista is now a figurehead on the show, we can expect more of. Shame when Khali comedy and a mid card tag team on commentary are the highlights of the night.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, looks worrying for the world title tbh, all the signs suggest that Dave will take the strap sooner or later.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Yeah, looks worrying for the world title tbh, all the signs suggest that Dave will take the strap sooner or later.

Dave's "whinge until you get the title" approach is not doing him any favours in my eyes. Here's hoping the bookers see sense and keep the strap on Jericho for the time being, at least.

Intrigued by the choices for Cyber Sunday so far - VOTE GOLDUST!

 

[masterblaster]

Dave's "whinge until you get the title" approach is not doing him any favours in my eyes. Here's hoping the bookers see sense and keep the strap on Jericho for the time being, at least.

Intrigued by the choices for Cyber Sunday so far - VOTE GOLDUST!

While I'm tempted to vote for Goldust, watching Santino Marella face the 'Honky Donkey Man' would be too good!

Although you know what the WWE are setting up for right? I get the feeling that it will be Santino Marella vs Charlie Haas either dressed as Piper, Goldust or Honky Tonk Man.

 

[masterblaster]

Yeah, looks worrying for the world title tbh, all the signs suggest that Dave will take the strap sooner or later.

I doubt it. Vince isn't dumb, he knows that Batista is pretty much a charismatic black hole who's too limited in the ring. With the amount of momentum Jericho has at the moment, I don't think he will be losing the strap yet.

 

[Barney Rubble]

While I'm tempted to vote for Goldust, watching Santino Marella face the 'Honky Donkey Man' would be too good!

Although you know what the WWE are setting up for right? I get the feeling that it will be Santino Marella vs Charlie Haas either dressed as Piper, Goldust or Honky Tonk Man.

Ahhhh, the penny drops. I did think that there was no way they'd ever get the Honky Donkey Man involved after all the bridges he's burned.

I'm still voting Goldust.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Hope they get Goldust. The Honky Tonk man confrontation would be much better served well down the track.

What has HTM done since 2001 to burn his bridges?

 

[Barney Rubble]

Hope they get Goldust. The Honky Tonk man confrontation would be much better served well down the track.

What has HTM done since 2001 to burn his bridges?

Well, he's one of those guys who's always running down the company in shoot promos etc, mouthing off about anyone and everyone still associated with WWE. He was offered $500 to appear on RAW and job to Randy Orton during Orton's run of "Legend Killing" last summer (during which Orton killed the legends of the likes of Dusty Rhodes, Sgt. Slaughter and others) and turned it down flat, claiming he deserved far more money. He's basically just a bit of a wanker.

EDIT: His Wikipedia profile used to have a big list of all the WWE-associated people he's offended, but it's gone now. The list included Flair, Hogan, Piper, and virtually every big-name star.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Wouldn't be the first time that someone who has offended everyone has been brought back or in. Did anyone ever expect Bischoff to appear in a WWE ring?

 

[Barney Rubble]

Wouldn't be the first time that someone who has offended everyone has been brought back or in. Did anyone ever expect Bischoff to appear in a WWE ring?

True, true. I'm not saying it definitely won't happen, just that I assumed it wouldn't, and his inclusion surprises me. Still voting Goldust though, just for hilarity reasons.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Would love to see Goldy return because:

a). He is so ****ing entertaining; and
b). Imagine the possibilities if they acknowledge that he is Cody Rhodes' brother?