The Wrestling Menu #60 - SmackDown, Unforgiven Predictions & Why Goldberg Must Win
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, September 17, 2003 at 11:34 PM EST




THE WRESTLING MENU #60

Welcome one and all to the 60th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Ahhh, it's that time of year where professional wrestling must fight for every viewer. Because it's that time of year where other professional sports all over the world are at an interesting stage. We have the always interesting NFL season just starting in the United States (Go Bills!). Across the Atlantic, the English Premier league season is only a few games in (Go Saints!). While down under, both the Australian Rules Football & Rugby League seasons are only a fortnight away from their big days. That's not even mentioning the Rugby Union World Cup which is less than a month away now.


APPETIZERS - SmackDown

I know this isn't the most timely review of a television show, bit I've reviewed Raw a few times lately, so it's only fair that I take a look at the other brand every now & then. This is the September-11 show I am taking a look at. I'll try & be brief, but you all know I will fail:

- Excellent 5 minute CruiserWeight tag-team opener. This is why this division is so important to SmackDown. There were many moves in this short match which have hardly been seen by even the most loyal & knowledgable wrestling fan. Tajiri has turned heel again & that doesn't really bother me, as long as he is used better than the last year or so. I've said it before; Tajiri is a genuine midcarder & should be used as such. So far, so good, on this heel turn.

- Backstage, The Big Show is standing behind Vince in a suit. Does this mean he is not going to wrestle for a while? Is he the 2003 version of The Big Bossman? Fellow columnist Wevv Mang should have a ball with this!!! Gee, Brock talks a lot now!!!

- Quick 2 minute match between Shaniqua & Dawn-Marie. Achieved it's purpose without wasting too much time. I actually think that Lynda Miles (aka Shaniqua) could be a real talent for the WWE. I just hope she isn't given too much responsibility in the ring too soon.

- Very good 8 minute bout between Chris Benoit & Rhyno. Rhyno looked good & Benoit was his usual talented self. The intensity in both his offensive & defensive moves is simply unmatched. When he hits, it appears he hurts. When he gets hit, it appears he gets hurt. Yet, we don't hear stories of how stiff Benoit is to work with & how many injuries he causes. That, my friends, is a huge ingredient in making a great wrestler.

- Entertaining backstage shenanigans with the APA & Matt Hardy. I suppose the APA can still be very useful for these type of segments.

- Like Canada, us Aussies were treated to the full Angle vs Lesnar match from SummerSlam. Why can't they show full matches from the smaller pay-per-views that less people purchase!?!?!?

- Ahhh, nothing like a good parking-lot brawl every now & again. Interesting choice of combatants for mine, but a very good choice. I enjoyed this brawl, as it had a good mix of everything & both guys worked hard to get the best out of a difficult situation. Chavo returned to assist his uncle to victory after 8 minutes.

- The APA defeat Matt Hardy & Shannon Moore next. Three minutes is about the limit for Faarooq & Bradshaw nowadays. This was decent for what it was though. I'm unsure where this butler angle is going though.

- It must be main event time now as Vince McMahon is standing in the ring. Here comes Brock... & then Stephanie, because one McMahon in the main event isn't enough. I'm just waiting for Shane-O-Mac to do a run-in during SmackDown one night!!! Apparently, there was some sort of a match that followed, but I honestly wasn't paying attention until I heard one of the commentators yell Kurt Angle's name.

Very good show overall. The better matches were given fairly good time (with the exception of the opener), while the other bouts were kept short & sweet. Nothing too terrible happened, while the show had a decent flow to it, up until the supposed main event. My only gripe with the show was that the tag-team champions were not on it. They were on one hell of a roll up until the last fortnight.


MAIN

Unforgiven Predictions

Most of you will know that I went 100% with my predictions for SummerSlam. I'd love to say that I'm confident of going back-to-back this month, but I really am not. There are a few unpredictable matches on this card. That's usually a good thing, but I think there is a fair bit of a "don't care who wins" attitude about this card. Up until the main event that is!!!

TEST vs SCOTT STEINER for the managerial services of Stacy Keibler: Who would have ever thought that the WWE would want to rehash a match from the forgettable Bad Blood pay-per-view!?!?!? I only hope that this feud moves on after this bout, as I don't think I could put up with it going any longer. I'm actually a bit undecided as to the winner here. Common sense would say the match & stipulation wouldn't exist unless the WWE want to pair Scott & Stacy together again. But surely it will be Test who will get the future push. I think I might go the upset on this one. Winner: Test

SHANE McMAHON vs KANE in a Last Man Standing Match: Hmmm, I wonder how tall the Unforgiven set will be around the entrance-way!?!?!? Let's be honest; In a feud where we've had testicles being electrocuted & a wrestler being burned in a dumpster, only to come back a week later with only a few scratches, this match is sure to have some gimmickry & trickery. I just hope it comes off as entertaining. I refuse to believe that the non-wrestler will go over the monster at a pay-per-view. Winner: Kane

TRISH STRATUS & LITA vs MOLLY HOLLY & GAIL KIM: Finally, some new life should be given to the Women's division with the return of Lita. This match is really important for the division as a whole in my opinion, because since Lita's injury, a couple of decent additions in Victoria & Gail Kim have come to the WWE. I'm sure Lita will still be a little rusty though & Trish may have to carry the workload for her team in this bout. Still, a face win here might get the crowd to care in upcoming weeks. Winners: Trish Stratus & Lita

LA RESISTANCE & ROB CONWAY vs THE (3) DUDLEY BOYZ in a 6-Man Tag-Team Tables Match: For the second month in a row, and even with the addition of Conway & Spike to the match, I say; "I'm not really looking forward to this bout". The only way this can be good is if the WWE just let these guys go hell for leather. But with one team consisting solely of inexperienced wrestlers, that's just not going to happen. The Dudleyz will pick up the win here, so that they can build up to eventually regaining the titles. Winners: The (3) Dudley Boyz

JIM ROSS & JERRY LAWLER vs AL SNOW & JONATHON COACHMAN: The winners of this match will become the Raw announce team. I'm expecting to laugh once or twice during this match, yet I will still hate it. I mean, what the hell could possibly happen in this bout that is going to make us stand up & say "that was a really good entertaining fight"...??? I don't even care who wins, but for the sake of these predictions..... Winners: Ross & Lawler

SHAWN MICHAELS vs RANDY ORTON: This is a match where I am just very unimpressed by the feud as a whole. I don't mind Randy Orton's character, and you only need to read last weeks column to find out what I think of HBK. But for some reason, I don't think they have really clicked in this feud. The quality of the match will be very interesting to see, as will the winner. I find this bout a hard one to predict, as sensible cases can be made either way. Due to the hopeful result of the main event, I think Evolution will have to take this one out. Winner: Randy Orton

CHRISTIAN vs ROB VAN DAM vs CHRIS JERICHO in a Triple Threat Match for the InterContinental Title: I predicted this match to occur at this pay-per-view a few weeks back. It just seemed obvious seeing as though all 3 seemed to be not feuding with anyone at the time. But surely, the match could have been announced 1-2 weeks earlier for some hype. This should be a good bout, but there's just no anticipation for it. Well, there is, and that comes in the form of it's unpredictability. Any one of the three could easily leave Unforgiven the champ. My bet is on Jericho, because his interaction with Christian has gone on longer than I thought it would. There must be a reason for that. Winner: Chris Jericho

TRIPLE H vs BILL GOLDBERG for the World HeavyWeight Title: See my "Dessert" section below..... Winner: Bill Goldberg

Well, that's Unforgiven. It's not the worst ppv card I've ever seen on paper, but the setup hasn't been great. I almost forgot Orton & Michaels were wrestling, while the InterContinental Title match seemed to be booked at the last moment. Oh well, we will see how we go. Hopefully, the WWE can deliver.


DESSERT:

Why Bill Goldberg Must Win

I thought that this prediction basically deserved a whole topic of it's own, seeing as though the possibilities of this upcoming match have dominated my feedback & the LOP Forums over the past couple of weeks. Before I get specifically into the topic, that in itself, is actually a good thing about this feud. Whether intentionally or not, by adding the career stipulation to this bout, the WWE have fans talking about the match, and running through all the possible scenarios.

The first feeling that would have run through most fans' minds when the stipulation was announced 3 or so weeks back, was that of relief; Finally, Triple H was going to lose the World HeavyWeight Title. We don't care who to, as long as he loses it. But almost immediately, this would have been followed by a feeling of scepticism; If the WWE wanted to keep the title on Hunter, how could they do it without showing Goldberg the door. A hundred things ran through the mind of most WWE fans.

But I would much rather skip the scepticism on this one & be very confident that come next Sunday night, we will have ourselves a new World HeavyWeight Champion. I just don't see why the WWE would bother trying to swerve us on this one. I mean, it's not as if they have some super-face that's just waiting in the shadows anyway. If anything, that was Goldberg himself. So surely if he is the opponent, then it only makes sense that he will win the match at Unforgiven. The career stipulation is only a talking point that confirms this.

But more than that, Bill Goldberg must walk out of this pay-per-view the champion. We all have arguments as to whether or not Triple H's long title reign has been good for the WWE (and the Raw brand specifically), and I'm sure that most are valid either way. But right now, there is a sense of stagnancy on the Raw side of things. This can't be helped by the fact that we have a rather stale champion who is quite obviously carrying an injury of some sort (reportedly a groin injury).

So whether you like Bill Goldberg or not. Whether you think he deserves to be World HeavyWeight champion or not. Whether he is over with all crowds or not. He is 'Da Man' who is the most obvious to take over the reigns from Triple H. Think about it, which other face on the Raw roster could possibly beat Hunter right now...??? Shawn Michaels or Rob Van Dam are about the only 2 I can think of. Been there, done that, with both those guys. Sure, most of us would love to see Chris Jericho be the one to pin the champ (whether it comes with a face turn or not), but he was lucky to even get a gig on the ppv!!!

No, it all makes perfect sense that Bill Goldberg will win the title at Unforgiven. He was used well in the Elimination Chamber at SummerSlam last month, the crowd got behind him that night & have also done so on most episodes of Raw since. Plus, he has had the crap beat out of him by Evolution consistently over the last 3 or 4 weeks. The feud has lasted sufficiently long enough, and while another month or so would have been good, Triple H's injury is a valid enough reason to have the fans cheer home Goldberg to a big win this coming Sunday night.

I can only hope that all this sense that I have written comes true. Because if it doesn't, no matter what the repercussions are for Bill Goldberg afterwards, there could be a backlash against the WWE (and the Raw brand specifically) from even the most hypnotised of fans. Even those unaware of the backstage politics would be seriously miffed by a Triple H win, and I'm not talking about a Honky Tonk Man InterContinental Title reign type of miffed. I'm talking about a 'this stale champ who can hardly move right now cannot possibly beat this unstoppable machine" type of miffed.

We put up with the ridiculous ending that was the Elimination Chamber, but I'm unsure that we can put up with something similar 4 weeks later. I say that we start the "Goldberg" chant right now. Maybe by Sunday, Vince McMahon will finally hear it & give us a new World HeavyWeight champion, and a fresh new set of feuds & storylines revolving around the supposedly coveted title.


Ok, that's about it for edition #60 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I just hope that the WWE delivers over the next week. The big IronMan match on SmackDown is an experiment that I really hope works. While I hope that the experiment that is Unforgiven also delivers some entertainment to those loyal enough to purchase the pay-per-view. As per usual, I will reply to all feedback, so please don't hesitate to let me know what you think of the whole Bill Goldberg vs Triple H situation, your thoughts on SmackDown, or your thoughts on Unforgiven. If anyone correctly predicts how a swerve might happen in the Unforgiven main event, I will place that in my column next week. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I will have my usual 'PPV Review' & 'Raw Review'. I'll figure out something else to write about as well. Look out for that column same Wednesday time & same LOP channel next week. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.














*NEW GALLERY* Hot Shots of WWE's Other Milena, Milena Roucka! WOW!

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