DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - Vengeance Review, SmackDown Improving & A Hardcore Return?
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 12:02 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #94

Welcome one and all to the 94th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Well, to be honest in both a positive & negative way, my Vengeance predictions were by far the worst predictions I have ever made with regards to eventual results. I ended up correctly predicting only 2 of the 7 matches (Benoit & Victoria)!!! I really thought that the WWE would wait until SummerSlam to have some of the results occur, but it looks as if it was all part of the build up to the big event in Toronto.

Oh well, maybe I'm all predictioned out with 3 pay-per-views in the last 4 weeks. Thank goodness, that we now have a 4 week break until SummerSlam. Ok, that's enough about my deteriorating prediction skills. On with the show.....


APPETIZERS - A Hardcore Return?

In my column last week, I reviewed the excellent Royal Rumble pay-per-view from the year 2000. I didn't have enough time to discuss a topic emanating from that event last Wednesday, so I will briefly do that today. It concerns 2 almost identical questions that I have received via email over the past month & a few of the matches that were on that card. The matches that I speak of were Triple H vs Cactus Jack in a streetfight, The Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boyz in a Tables match, and to a much lesser extent, The New Age Outlaws vs The Acolytes in a Tag-Team Titles match. If you haven't had a chance to read last week's column as yet, you may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2004_/articles/1089198094.php

The basic question that I was asked is should either the hardcore title or ECW return...??? Let me get rid of the easy one first. The hardcore title should not return. My reasoning is pretty simple here. If the division & title was to return, I'm fairly certain that the WWE would treat it exactly the same as in the last few months of it's existence. And that was pretty much a means for comedy, than anything else. There is already enough avenues for comedy in the WWE right now, so I don't see why it would be necessary. Plus, second-rate hardcore action would become pretty monotonous, pretty quickly.

Moving to the ECW question, there was a huge rumor that the WWE was going to bring back a separate show for the brand earlier this year. I didn't comment on it at all back then, because I didn't really think I was in a position to. We do not get any of the secondary shows like Heat, Velocity or Experience down in Australia, so I would probably have never got to see the show if it was given the green light. Plus, I haven't seen as much ECW as some of the other columnists anyway, so I thought it best if I let them speak on the topic.

Personally, I think the idea would not work very well anyway. Many years have passed since the promotion was a relative success. The hardcore ECW fans would have either moved on totally from wrestling by now, or at least moved on to another promotion. A watered down WWE owned version would probably turn them off, if anything. Furthermore, this separate brand would drain away too much talent from Raw and SmackDown. This would test these brands' roster depth to the (pardon the pun) extreme. That's something the WWE cannot afford, at a time when they are still trying to get the bugs ironed out of the brand extension.

However, I would still be open to the idea of an ECW stable on one of the WWE's 2 brands. Those that witnessed the ECW reformation at around the time of the 'Invasion', would recall how amazing that moment truly was. Even I, who had witnessed very little of ECW at the time, was genuinely on the edge of my seat when the WWE-based ECW wrestlers slowly turned around & joined the invading Rob Van Dam & Tommy Dreamer, to stare down Chris Jericho & Kane in the ring. Furthermore, the promo given by the (commentating) Paul Heyman afterwards, was close to perfection. Of course, a subsequent merging with a WCW faction pretty much immediately put paid to any relevance ECW had in the whole equation. Thus, the idea was never fully explored.

If the timing is right & the booking done correctly, I'd still love to see an ECW stable in the WWE. It wouldn't necessarily have to be every ECW wrestler currently on the WWE roster, but something like a Paul Heyman managed heel group involving all 3 Dudleyz, Rob Van Dam, Nunzio, Johnny The Bull & maybe a surprise wrestler such as Mike Awesome or Sabu would work very well. They wouldn't even have to wrestle a totally hardcore style either. Just something a little more intense & with the notion that they were all like family who had been through the good, the bad & the ugly all before.


MAIN - Vengeance 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] (G.A.Bash '04)
50-54: Mediocre & disappointing. [D] (EG: Judgment Day '04)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: Royal Rumble '04 & No Way Out '04)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: Bad Blood '04)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: WrestleMania 20)
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+]

TAJIRI & RHYNO defeated JONATHAN COACHMAN & GARRISON CADE: Nothing like an impromptu match to kick things off!!! I suppose there really wasn't a clear choice for opener, so I'm fine with this. It pretty much meant nothing, but was entertaining enough for it's 7 minute duration. Tajiri practically provided all the highlights as far as I was concerned. Nothing anywhere near special, but nothing too bad either. Match Rating...5

BATISTA defeated CHRIS JERICHO : Disappointing & by-the-numbers match which took an absolute eternity to get going. It started out as if the encouraging feud was going to carry over into this match. But the next 7 minutes turned into a slow boring resthold-fest. If they were attempting psychology, it didn't work!!! Jericho hardly got in any offense at all. At that stage, this was heading for a match rating of about 3. But the final 4 minutes were pretty well put together & saved it a little. Batista may have improved on television, but he still has some work to do for the longer ppv matches. Match Rating...5

LA RESISTANCE defeated RIC FLAIR & EUGENE by Disqualification to Retain the World Tag-Team Titles: Extremely entertaining byplay between Eugene & Flair in the opening few minutes of this 12 minute encounter. Some of Eugene's mocking had just the right blend of looking something like what Flair does, but nothing like him at all. In return, Flair's facial expressions & actions were priceless. The match eventually settled down & turned into a pretty average tag-team bout. That is, until Eugene got angry at his cheating opponents & went berserk causing his team to be disqualified. Nothing much more to say really... Just an average bout given an extra point because of the entertainment value. Match Rating...6

MATT HARDY defeated KANE in a No Disqualification Match: Bad start to the match with no 'Matt Fact' on his entrance video. Above average intensity in this bout & predominantly well-performed (a messy 'Twist Of Fate' being the main exception). But this match lacked one thing: Something spectacular. Anything would have done... It could have been gimmicky, hardcore, high-flying, backstage, etc... Anything like that would have raised this match another level. But it didn't come. The ending was also disappointing & anti-climactic, as Lita distracted Kane enough to allow Matt to get the soft win at the 11 minute mark. Match Rating...6

EDGE defeated RANDY ORTON to Win the InterContinental Title: I knew this match was going to be given over 20 minutes (it got 26) & I think the main question to be answered was could these 2 put on a consistent quality match over that timeframe. I'm still unsure if I have the answer to be honest. The bout was far from perfect, but I'm almost tempted to answer in the affirmative. There was a heap of slow spots in the match (the first 7 or 8 minutes, plus the 2 sets of headlocks in the middle), but the better parts were very well put together & performed. Most importantly, there were times when these 2 guys had the crowd in the palm of their hands. To top it all off, the final few minutes were excellent & possibly the best ending to a match this year. Overall, a very hard match to rate. Giving them 26 minutes was way too ambitious & hurt the match. But both Orton & Edge showed the amount of potential they have. Match Rating...7

VICTORIA defeated MOLLY HOLLY to Become the #1 Contender for the WWE Women's Title: Very good women's match which could have done with some crowd involvement. Lasted just under 7 minutes, but had pretty much everything. It started off at a cracking pace & then turned into a very good psychological bout. The ending capped it all off with Victoria unable to hit 'The Widow's Peak' due to a shoulder injury, but then ad-libbing with an excellent super-kick for the win. Victoria was tremendously impressive, while Molly was her usual solid self (although not at her best). Match Rating...6

CHRIS BENOIT defeated TRIPLE H to Retain the World HeavyWeight Title: This match has to be split into 2 separate parts: Pre-Eugene & Post-Eugene. The 22 minutes before Eugene appeared was an absolute clinic!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed how both wrestlers performed every single move with crispness & intensity. Seriously, they could have easily gone over an hour after that beginning. After Eugene entered the equation though, the match became way overbooked & simply a case of 'whose side will he take'. It was still pretty entertaining, but just didn't fit the mood set down earlier in the bout. The ending came almost anti-climactically at the 29 minute mark. If we did learn a couple of things from this match, it's that Benoit is a genuine main-eventer & that Triple H is not quite past his best just yet. Match Rating...8

PPV RATING (43/70) = 61

Looking at the key, I have basically given 'Vengeance' a 'C+' grade & said that it was 'worth a watch'. Again, I state that the Raw brand is at least consistent, with this ppv scoring almost exactly the same as Backlash & Bad Blood. This ppv could be looked at as a solid event. It had no failing match & a very good World HeavyWeight Title bout. The under & midcard probably let it down a little, as nothing stood out from the pack, when it really could have. I think one's opinion of the whole card will pretty much rest on the InterContinental Title bout. And that match is unfortunately one, where each individual will have to form their own opinion as to it's quality. At the end of the day though, I'd simply have to say that this event was a worth a watch.


DESSERT - SmackDown Improving?

This may be a throwaway type of topic, but I really did feel the need to comment about it. There have been enough negatives highlighted lately regarding WWE programming (especially the SmackDown brand), so when a major positive comes along, I think it would be a little hypocritical of me to ignore it. That major positive... Basically the entire episode of SmackDown last week. I thought it was better than "an improvement". I even thought it was better than "good". I thought it was a terrific show.

I just loved the way that the show opened up. Having Rene Dupree come out to do color commentary was a good idea to get the crowd going. Mark Jindrak didn't exactly get the same crowd reaction, but that's what happens when you take someone off the main show for over a month. RVD woke the live audience back up as per usual. Then we had a really good even match. It went long enough & I was genuinely surprised at how even the bout was. Hell, there was even some psychology involved. I'm not expecting Jindrak to have a title run anytime soon, but he has been so under-used, it's ridiculous. This match is exactly how he should be used for the time being.

I'll skip the tag-team title match for the time being because I want to get to that last. I didn't mind the JBL vs El Gran Luchador match. It wasn't exactly original, but it was entertaining enough & excellent hype for next week's cage match for the WWE Championship.

The 6 man cruiserweight match was great & proves that these guys don't need a whole lot of time to show their talent. I obviously would have preferred the match to last a further 3 or 4 minutes, but even that wouldn't be classified as a long bout. The thing about this match was that it showed the audience that any of these 6 guys can literally beat anyone on their day. I haven't seen Jamie Noble win a match with his Tiger Driver for months. After seeing it again, I could almost see him performing it on anyone but The Big Show & getting the pin.

The backstage & promo segments were all well done. I liked both involving The Dudley Boyz. Personally, I'm more interested to see what they do next to bounce back from their losing streak, rather than see what part they would play in the 'Taker/Heyman angle from last month. The Heyman/'Taker angle was furthered slightly without taking up too much time. And while I'm confused as to how many wrestlers John Cena is currently feuding with, I thought both his & Kenzo Suzuki's promos were solid. Ditto for JBL's promo near the beginning of the show.

The main event between Booker T & John Cena obviously left some people with a sour taste in their mouth because of the ending. I wouldn't say that it ruined the show though. In fact, if anything, it resulted in the ending of the show leaving the viewer expecting next week's episode with even more anticipation. That sounds like the WWE at it's best, if you ask me. I can't wait to see what Angle decides to do with the U.S Title. How does a 8 man tournament ending at SummerSlam & involving Cena, Booker, RVD, Dupree, Haas, Reigns, Holly & a mystery entrant (Angle himself) sound...??? Sounds great to me!!!

And finally to the WWE Tag-Team Championship match. I've been saying for at least a couple of months that Billy Kidman & Paul London should be pushed as title contenders. They both have individual talent & you can see that they have worked on perfecting a few double-team moves. Apparently, there was some controversy regarding whether they should win the titles at SummerSlam or on SmackDown. I can see why the WWE went with the super surprise SmackDown win, but I think if booked correctly, it would have been better if the tag-team titles changed hands at the big August pay-per-view.

I would have had the DQ Velocity finish occur in this SmackDown match. Then I would have had The Dudleyz basically ignoring the new team & not granting them a rematch. So Kidman & London could have taken it upon themselves to annoy the veteran team in any way possible. Match run-ins, backstage antics, etc, etc, etc... This could have resulted in some entertainment where the crowd could have got to know the new tandem a lot better than 'just another team'. Eventually, out of the total want to destroy the little guys, The Dudleyz would grant the ppv rematch. If you think about that scenario, no-one still would have predicted a title change at SummerSlam. Thus, the win still would have come off as a huge surprise.

But I might be being a little picky there, as Kidman & London do have the titles & the whole reign could still work perfectly if booked correctly. Let's hope this is the start of a new era for tag-team wrestling in the WWE. Furthermore, let's hope that this episode of SmackDown is a turning point for the brand. With Jindrak, London, Kidman, Akio & Noble all getting quality time, you can't help but feel that it was a little experimental. In my mind, the experiment worked. Let's hope that it also did in the minds of the decision-makers!!!


Ok, that is all for edition #94 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, please don't hesitate to email me your opinion on any one of the 3 topics that I discussed today. Do you agree with my thoughts on a hardcore title and/or ECW return...??? Did I over-rate SmackDown last week...??? Did I under-rate Vengeance...??? What would you have rated the Edge vs Orton match...??? Throw anything at me. As per usual, I will reply to all feedback. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

I have to be honest here folks & state that I think my batteries need to be recharged. So, I probably won't be posting a column next week. All these ppv's in a row have drained me a little. Plus, I have to start thinking about what I will be doing for edition #100 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. That big milestone isn't far away now!!! So I'll see everyone in a fortnight's time. In the meantime, keep the feedback coming. This is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.











DIRECT LINK: The INSANE New Scott Hall VIDEOS from the Sheik Roast! MUST SEE!

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