DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu #75 - Royal Rumble Review, Raw, SmackDown & Heaps More
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 at 10:19 PM EST




THE WRESTLING MENU #75

Welcome one and all to the 75th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Maybe I can change my opening line to "the column with a lot less leaks than the WWE". Man, a lot of these rumors that have been floating around for a few weeks or months, seem to be coming true. I'll speak more on that in the review of the Royal Rumble match later.

Before I get going, I need to apologize & also give thanks. The apology goes to about a dozen people who sent me an e-mail either Sunday or later. I've had problems with my computer, so haven't been able to reply. All things going smoothly, you will receive your e-mail replies shortly. And the huge thanks go to all those readers who had a look at my column last week. It was my most viewed ever with over 6,500 hits. That's very flattering & I hope the majority of you enjoyed it.

On with the show.....


APPETIZERS - Raw & SmackDown

Within the topic about the 'WWE limiting moves & styles' of their wrestlers last week, I made a comment about the large differentiation I believe between pay-per-views & television shows. Now, it's not the first time I've made the comment, and it's probably the least negative feedback I've received for making it, but there were still a couple of people that took me to task on it. I definitely understand each side of the argument, as some people cannot afford to buy many ppv's, or simply don't have access to them. But I still feel the differentiation has to be made & it's important for the long-term good of the WWE.

But that, and a slight change of direction on both Raw & SmackDown over the last couple of weeks, got me to thinking about the overall structure of the television shows, a little more in detail. And so far, I would have to come to the conclusion that the WWE are on the right track.

To explain what I mean, I'm going to use the pre-Royal Rumble Raw & SmackDown's from a week or 2 back. This was the Raw that was main evented by the Mini-Rumble won by Bill Goldberg, and the SmackDown that was main evented by Eddie Guerrero & Kurt Angle vs Chavo Guerrero Jr & Sr.

The episode of Raw was the interesting one though. I probably saw 6 reviews all up & they were pretty much evenly split with 3 reviews saying it was a very good show & 3 saying that it was very average. One of the reasons stated by those who were disappointed with the show, was that neither Shawn Michaels or Triple H were on the show to promote what was almost the main event of the ppv, that was only 6 days away.

But this fact didn't bother me whatsoever, and overall, I liked that episode of Raw. Yes, that was practically the main event of the ppv, and yes, there is an argument to say that they should have been there, but I thought the excellently produced 3 or 4 minute promotional video was more than sufficient. When you couple that with the fact that both the champ & the challenger have had more than their fair share of tv time on recent episodes of Raw, I actually found it a breath of fresh air that they weren't there. Not so much that they weren't there, but the fact that all other talent was given more prominence.

The likes of Goldberg, RVD, Jericho, Orton & Booker T were practically playing the roles of main eventers. While others such as Spike Dudley, Rico, Rene Dupree & The Hurricane actually got to wrestle singles matches on television. Sure, we may not all agree on one of those wrestlers main eventing, or whether Spike or Rico should be on tv at all. But at least it was something different & by giving one or more of those wrestlers the possibility of proving themselves, one positive gained could outweigh many minor negatives in the long-term.

The same can be said for SmackDown where (admittedly it wasn't exactly the feud of the year), Brock Lesnar vs Bob Holly played a minimal supporting role. Chris Benoit, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero were almost used as main eventers. While the likes of Rhyno, Chuck Palumbo, Matt Morgan, Shannon Moore, Billy Kidman, Akio & Sakoda all saw action. Again, some of the match-ups may have been dubious, but they were definitely worth a try. End result; Another show I liked. Mainly because there was a sense of freshness to it.

So, I like the direction the WWE seem to be heading in with their television shows. I say that it could actually be a good thing if every wrestler gets, for example, one tv show off every 2 months. It will add a sense of change to the WWE that can only be good, and can easily be covered up with good writing (eg: injury), or good production work (eg: HBK vs HHH). But more importantly, it should give all wrestlers, no matter where their position on the card is, a greater chance at proving their talent. Then they can strive to wrestle at the pay-per-view events, where only the best of the best should significantly appear.


MAIN - Royal Rumble Review

For those that cannot recall my previous PPV review columns, this is the key, that explains what the final PPV Rating means:

<50: Ask for a refund for not only your money, but also your time. [F]
50-54: Mediocre & disappointing. [D] (EG: Armageddon '03)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: No Mercy '03)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: SummerSlam '03)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: SurvivorSeries '03)
70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: WrestleMania 19)
75-79: Make sure you add this ppv to your video or dvd collection. [A] (EG: SummerSlam '02)
80+ : Make sure that the video or dvd is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

RIC FLAIR & BATISTA defeated THE DUDLEY BOYZ in a Tables Match to Retain the World Tag-Team Titles: Damn it; Open with the cruiserweights!!! How many more times do I have to say it!?!?!? Yes, The Dudleyz do also effectively open shows, but this match, and the one that followed it, proved why the WWE have to revert back to the cruiserweights opening shows. This was a very mediocre & short bout which almost appeared as if it was 100% ad lib. It gave the impression that there was no planning to it at all. Furthermore, there wasn't much intensity in the ring, despite it being a decent feud. The abrupt ending just topped it off!!! Match Rating...4

REY MYSTERIO defeated JAMIE NOBLE to Retain the Cruiserweight Title: Man, if I called the last match short, then this one didn't exist. I think it lasted less than 4 minutes!!! What more can I say, everything that happened in the 4 minutes was fast-paced & crisp, while there was some decent storytelling involved with Nidia & the ending to the bout. But at only 4 minutes, this one's hard to rate. Match Rating...5

EDDIE GUERRERO defeated CHAVO GUERRERO: This match also surprised me in the way it was booked. I won't say it was anti-climactic, but with the importance that the feud has been given lately, I did expect more. Having said that, I did state last week that Eddie is above Chavo & he should win this bout cleanly, so I can't really complain. I suppose Eddie didn't dominate, but the fact that Chavo never really looked like winning definitely surprised me. The beatdown after the match also had me scratching my forehead... Were the WWE testing reaction to an Eddie heel turn, or were they trying to quickly sweep this feud under the carpet, so that these 2 can start new & separate feuds!?!?!? Another hard one to rate. Match Rating...6

BROCK LESNAR defeated HARDCORE HOLLY to Retain the WWE Championship: Acceptable time-passer, although I think most know my opinion on the existence of this match on a major ppv card. The feud has been good, and I like the way the psychology aspect of it was used in the match. I even agreed with the reasoning behind Lesnar tying Holly up & grounding him. But my goodness, was it overdone... and badly at that!!! There was way too many boring spots for a match that hardly travelled 10 minutes, and I think the rear gut-wrench/bearhug that Lesnar applied more than once, was quite possibly the weakest looking move I've seen this decade!!! Match Rating...5

TRIPLE H & SHAWN MICHAELS Wrestled to a Draw in a Last Man Standing Match for the World HeavyWeight Title: I think I have had trouble rating every single match on this card. This was no exception. While it was entertaining & generated some excitement at various stages of the match, there is something about the way that this bout was structured that had me a little underwhelmed. After the first 3 minutes, the 2 wrestlers basically just took turns in beating on each other for a short spurt, until the one that was taking the beating got up somewhere between a 7 and 9 count. I think that's why I have never really liked 'Last Man Standing' matches; They are all fairly similar. While I wasn't super impressed with the result, the ending didn't bother me too much. Match Rating...7

ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH Won By Chris Benoit: Now, I'm going to be a little tough on the rating here, and in all honesty, it is a little unfair to the match itself. But stuff it!!! I pretty much, with a few exceptions (eg: 1992 & 1999), always rate the Rumble match a 9 out of 10. It is that consistent & entertaining from year to year, in my opinion. But I've decided to drop a point here because of the predictability aspect of it. The Chris Benoit rumor was indeed true, and I have to personally state that it reduced the impact of one of my favorite wrestlers winning one of the biggest matches of the year. And he did it from position #1 in over an hour!!! Bottom line; The WWE MUST do something to stop information like this leaking to the internet. But let us not get bogged down there, as that's a whole different column.

There's not much else I really need to say. The match was entertaining. I didn't have too many problems with when wrestlers entered, and when they were eliminated (although, I thought Goldberg should have lasted another 2-3 minutes before Lesnar ran in). There were also some nice touches, such as The Undertaker's gong, Mick Foley's brilliant & intense appearance, and the excellently booked & performed ending involving Benoit & The Big Show. All in all, these Rumble matches are always great viewing & a good reminder of the depth of the talent roster at a point in time. This one was no exception. Match Rating...8

PPV RATING (35/60) = 58

Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2004 Royal Rumble a 'C' grade & said that it was 'average'. That's probably a little harsh, but The Royal Rumble ppv is always a hard event to grade, as there are less singles matches on the card & those matches are almost always shorter than what we would expect. What this card did lack that the past few Rumbles have had, is a quality back up to the Battle Royal. I thought that the World HeavyWeight Title match would do the job, but it fell a little short. That, and the leak of Benoit winning from position #1, just soured the event a little in my view. Now if only I could stop reading newsposts & spoilers!!!


DESSERT - Randomness

Finally, I have got around to throwing random thoughts out there for everyone to think about. I've been meaning to do this in every column I've written this year, but it always kept getting pushed aside. But it's finally here, and I'm sure at least a couple of them will get you thinking. Here goes.....

- I don't think I actually stated it at the end of my Royal Rumble review, but a big congratulations to Chris Benoit is in order. He has worked his a$$ off to get the recognition he may finally be getting, and whether it be win, lose or draw at WrestleMania 20, I just cross my fingers that the WWE treat & use him correctly over the next few years.

- Is it only me that thinks Doug Basham is one hell of a talented wrestler...??? He looks like the type of guy that is jumping out of his skin to break away from a tag-team & eventually become a quality upper-midcarder.

- I know fellow LOP columnist Wevv Mang (there you go Wevv, you got a mention) has been saying this on & off for a while, but I really think Paul Wight (aka The Big Show) could really be successful in Hollywood playing bit-part roles. He just has all the qualities (especially facial) that fit perfectly for an action-comedy movie.

- Where the hell are Kanyon & Sean O'Haire...??? Hopefully the new direction that the tv shows are taking (that I discussed in the 'Appetizers' section of this column) will result in these 2 talented wrestlers emerging from obscurity once more.

- Last week, someone mentioned the Eddie & Chavo Guerrero storyline from WCW, where Chavo went a little bonkers & started stalking his uncle. That was indeed a hilarious angle, and the clincher was when Chavo was wearing those "Uncle Eddie is my favorite wrestler" t-shirts.

- Does anyone else see the irony that within a fortnight of Spanky quitting the WWE, his old tag-team partner (Paul London) has found a new tag-team partner & is wrestling on an episode of SmackDown...???

- It's good to see that it appears as if Victoria is finally getting the push she deserves. I said way back in November of 2002 in the first column I ever wrote for the LOP main page, that she would be the future of the division. On a related note, did she ever get that knee surgery? I don't think so, and that may come back to haunt her one day.

- Were the WWE serious about telling Bill Goldberg not to use the Jackhammer finisher...??? That's one of the silliest things I've heard in a long time.

- The way the WWE have booked the tag-team of Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade has been nothing short of terrible. They are slowly built up & then they just disappear. It screams of booking on the fly!!! Surely, they could get involved in an undercard feud, and not just stand around backstage pointing the way as to which direction someone went!!!

- Do you know what is probably the most impressive wrestling move (excluding anything that Rey Mysterio does) to a non-wrestling fan...??? I'll give you a clue; It's not a finishing move... anymore. That's right, the DDT. It's a shame that it started to get used the way it is now. It still can look so lethal.

- I still don't believe that WrestleMania 20 will last for almost 5 hours. That just sounds too long for mine. Expect some boring undercard matches if this is true.

- The next SmackDown pay-per-view is less than 3 weeks away. But I like the way the WWE are building up to 'No Way Out', and not just using it as fodder for WrestleMania 20. Good stuff WWE.

- In preparation for this year's Rumble, I had a look at the 2003 rumble match. 3 things stood out: (1) What the hell was Jeff Hardy thinking about with his hair & face-paint...??? (2) What the hell were the WWE thinking about with Bull Buchanan's 'B2' gimmick, and (3) Does anyone remember how John Cena used to actually sing out his freestyles, as opposed to talking them out like he does now...???

And finally (because I can't resist another dig).....

- How hard could it be for the WWE to find out who is leaking storyline information out...??? Vince is cunning enough... he should set a few traps. I'm sure he'd have fun doing so, as well.


Ok, that brings to a close edition #75 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I actually tried to make this column a little shorter than usual, but I think I have failed in that regard again. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. There's a heap that I went through today, so I'm sure there's something that you would like to share your opinion of. Please don't hesitate to do so by e-mailing me. You know that I will reply to all feedback. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I may have to get back on track by continuing on my 1990's Video Review series. I think I left it at 1995 sometime back in November, so I will kick it back off with a pay-per-view from possibly my favorite year of professional wrestling; 1996. That plus much more 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.












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