ECW SyFy Results (02/02/10) Savannah introduced Vince McMahon, who came out wearing a pink and black tie. He stopped at the stage. He immediately said that ECW would be...
It has been a weird month for me and my reviews have been affected accordingly. Coming off a health issue, I am eager to catch up. So in an effort to catch up before one of my favorite pay per views of the year, here is a super column! Starting at last week's Smackdown and leading up to this weeks, here we go.
We wrapped up the visit to England with a great Smackdown. To be quick about each segment, I loved the first match with CM Punk and R-Truth. Punk cut a great promo beforehand and got a convincing heel win. The diva's of Smackdown continued to attack Mickie James, though to me it was kind of weak. I will say that Natalya looked amazing in the ring. Drew MacIntyre and Finley brawled once again, and I still liked the way MacIntyre worked. He is a certain future star.
Next we had the contract signing for Batista and Rey. Personally, I think that contract signings are just terrible concepts. We get it. Their going to fight at the pay per view, and 90% of the time they are going to fight after signing the contract. It's overused and obnoxious. Luckily we recover with another excellent John Morrison/Dolph Ziggler match. The fall they took to the outside looked spectacularly ugly. This feud is red hot and in my opinion the best feud going in the WWE. We go next to Beth Phoenix and another smash. Beth still looks like the most dominant diva on the roster.
The main event was the first ever one on one meeting of Chris Jericho and the Undertaker. I loved this match. Both of these men are classic technicians and pulled out all the stops. But the best part was the ending. Big Show comes out for the two on one beatdown and suddenly Kane (the real Kane, not the watered-down one) came down for the save. Seeing those two together again gave me chills. The main event for the next week was obvious and I couldn't wait.
Three days later, we are back at the greatest arena in the world. Even though I've never been there before, I feel like I have been. So many great moments have been decided there. The guest host of the night was involved in several of those moments, Rowdy Roddy Piper. He opens with some random humor including a great Iron Sheik appearance.
The matches begin with a solid match between MVP and the Miz. Both men worked their tales off and Miz retained of course. I loved the reaction that Miz got from the crowd. Out comes Chavo and Santino next. Santino got some great comedy in with the various jersies. I cracked up myself when I saw the Phillies shirt. The match was short and ended with a Hornswoggle appearance. I was ready for the commercial and the next match but we got a DX appearance as well. This whole segment I loved. Watching Hornswoggle get the Pedigree was amazing. The crowd was slightly conflicted, but I could care less. If you didn't enjoy seeing that, you aren't human.
We go backstage to Jericho and Piper in Piper's pit. We got another look at the crazy side of Piper, as he rambled and then brought out Chris Masters to, once again, showcase his jiggling pecs. It's not the greatest gimmick of all time, but its better than the Masterlock Challenge. Out to the ring for the token Diva's match. Again, short match, but I loved what I saw. Alicia Fox is the most improved Diva of the Year, by far. Great match and I hope the two of them get a longer match sometime in the future.
Out came Piper for a fantastic promo (despite the fact that some of it was gibberish and the crowd barely cared). I loved the bit about the dead and bald guys and the knock on Hogan. For the record, Hogan signing with TNA is a mistake. Not only a mistake, it is a shame. WWE and Vince McMahon made Hogan who he is. WCW only hurt that image. By going to TNA, he is showing very little loyalty. Yeah, he has bills to pay, but at the end of the day the image I'm going to see is Hogan holding the WWF belt, or slamming Andre the Giant. Not trying to wrestle in a six sided ring or taking a title off of a younger and more deserving wrestler. Anyways, at the end of Piper's promo he calls out the Boss.
Vince comes out to the challenge to a GIGANTIC ovation. He is so loved, it is amazing. Vince says he won't wrestle Piper but we are left to find out what will happen later that night. Back from the break we get a Sheamus moment in the ring. he openly challenges anyone and after not receiving a challenger, attacks the timekeeper and Jerry Lawler. I don't think this did much for his credibility, personally. He came off as a bully, whereas with the beating on Jamie Noble, he appeared to be a monster. Not a smart booking, in my opinion.
Next we get a match we've seen before, but it was still good. Swagger and Bourne put on a good show and I loved the combination at the end. Next Piper comes out for his challenge against Vince. Instead, we get the Legend Killer Randy Orton. The two brawl with Orton getting the upperhand but his punt kick is interrupted by the arrival of Kofi. The two proceeded to brawl into the crowd very nicely and ended it with a spectacular Boom Boom Boom through a table. Kofi is the real deal and showed everyone so. I'm going to skip the promo Cena gave because it was awful. That's all you need to know about it.
The main event was next and wasn't that great. It was awesome, however, to see the Undertaker on Raw. He came out with the druids and the way the smoke rolled out of the entrance, it was just amazing. The match was your typical triple threat tag match, leading down to the end where they all hit their finishers. Cena picked up the win and its over right? Wrong. Undertaker proceeds to Tombstone Cena and pose in the ring.
Some people are saying this is a sign that Undertaker will fight Cena and Wrestlemania, but I hope it isn't true. After the excellent match with HBK this year, I think there is only one person that can challenge the Dead Man this year. That man is the very same person he beat just four days before this broadcast, Chris Jericho. Fingers crossed.
ECW was good and a long floating question was answered for me. Paul Burchill and Katie Lea (NOOOO) are off of ECW. I have no idea what the WWE wants to do with them, but I hope they end up on another show. Both are great talents and it would be a shame to lose them. In other action that night, we got a Zack Ryder moment with Rosa, and then Shelton Benjamin. Looks like this feud is going to continue. Good, I love these two fighting each other and Rosa is easy on the eyes.
After the Hurricane/Burchill match I got to stare at Tiffany for a while. I'm pretty sure she was talking to someone, which means someone else was on the screen. I don't know. She was definitely there. I know that much.
Vance Archer squishes another jobber. Big surprise, I can't wait for him to wrestle another superstar. Start him off against Golddust. That could be a good feud. Then Christian and Punk talk some trash in the back and Christian makes me laugh (something he has very little trouble doing). We are then headfirst into out main event. This is a great match but not quite my favorite of the week. The end saw the heels win, giving them the momentum for Survivor Series.
Smackdown this week was pretty good overall. The opening match was weak. Batista played the monster heel and Matt Hardy lost. That sums it all up. Vince's reaction to his own announcement was priceless and the appointing of Vickie Guerrero to a new post might be interesting. The next match was another Finley/McIntyre match. Again, McIntyre won it and showed his dominance.
CM Punk came out to cut a Straight Edge promo that was enjoyable enough. It made me wonder what kind of angle the WWE could do with a heel CM Punk against Stone Cold Steve Austin. That would be a feud to watch. R-Truth came out to stand up for the people and got a nice reaction from it. I love these two working together. I think its a great compliment to R-Truth and a reality check for CM Punk and his allegedly inflated ego.
Now for the two out of three falls match. Morrison and Ziggler did it yet again and I am forced to name this my MATCH OF THE WEEK. It had some great wrestling and built very well off of their previous encounters. Morrison came away with the win but Ziggler looked even better than ever. I cannot wait for their matchup at Survivor Series.
Mickie James cried. The entire time I heard Tom Hanks from "A League of Their Own", screaming There's no crying in baseball!! Sexy, Smart, Powerful. Crying isn;t in that. Sorry Mickie.
The night ended with two no-contests, thereby cheating many ticketholders out of a conclusive and exciting match finish. Make that two actually. Oh well. Rey Mysterio and Tyson Kidd looked good together and the match was enjoyable but of course Batista got involved and the match was throw out.
Yawn.
Jericho and Big Show fought the Brothers of Darkness in somethine vaguely resembling a match. The end came with Chris Jericho turning on Big Show before their big matchup Sunday. That . . . makes no sense at all. Oh well.
So here are my Survivor Series predictions.
Team Michelle b. Team Mickie James
Michelle has Beth Phoenix and Alicia Fox. Layla and Jillian aren't great but don't suck. Micke cried on Smackdown. I still can't get over it. Melina and Gail Kim are great wrestlers but Eve and Kelly aren't. I hope Michelle pulls this one out.
John Cena b. Shawn Michaels and Triple H to retain his title.
Sadly, I think Hornswoggle might play a part in this. He is the best way to keep all three good guys and not have any major betrayals. Cena wins and hopefully starts feuding with someone that he has heat with. Anyone.
Team Miz b. Team Morrison
This is an important match because of the boost each wrestler will get for winning this. Team Miz has younger, hungrier wrestlers. This win would mean a lot for Sheamus, McIntyre, and Swagger. Ziggler would get a win after losing to Morrison several times for the title. Plus Miz can keep being an arrogant little punk. No one on Morrison's team needs the win, although Shelton Benjamin going the distance and taking out all five would be amazing. That would be just the boost his career could use.
Team Kofi b. Team Orton
This is the hardest match for me to pick. Either team could win, for a variety of reasons. In the end I picked based on Kofi's push, Christian's popularity, and the inevitable destruction of Legacy.
Batista b. Rey Mysterio
Rey needs time off. It is that easy. Batista will do something ridiculous and put Mysterio on the shelf for a while. Rey gets his rest. Batista looks like a monster. It's win win.
Undertaker b. Chris Jericho and the Big Show
This wasn't easy, but I go with the Dead Man. I expect him to keep the title and then feud with Batista while Jerishow slowly falls apart.
Well that's it for my catchup column. Sorry about the delays guys but I will see you next week for my Raw review and PPV reactions. Remember, all your Serial Survivors out there . . .
