DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - Judgment Day Review, 'Gimmick Match' Poll Results + More
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 5:38 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #131

Welcome one and all to the 131st edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

First off..... I saw the final (or should that be 3rd) installment of the Star Wars series on the weekend. In my opinion, it was very good & did the job it had to more than sufficiently. It must be hard to make a film when you have a specific starting & ending point known to the audience. Definitely recommended if you didn't dislike any of the previous 5 in the series.

Moving on..... Thanks to a few readers who emailed me their opinion regarding my PPV & DVD reviews being posted on Amazon.com without my prior permission. Like I said last week, I was more curious about the situation than anything else. I am flattered that my reviews are on that site & very much hope that they help wrestling fans all over the world make more informed decisions on what to purchase. But I still would have preferred a link to this mighty website that I write for somewhere on there.

Today's column will be a little shorter than usual. No real reason other than the 3 topics I am writing on don't really lend themselves to detailed discussion & opinion.

On with the show.....


APPETIZERS - Tornado Tag-Team Matches

Last week in my column, I asked for a poll for the first time in 9 months. The results of that poll are in the 'Dessert' section of today's column. If you are yet to read last week's column, you may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005/articles/1116412092.php

While I had the idea of a 'favorite gimmick match' poll as far back as last year, one of the things that made me rethink having it was an email sent in by a reader approximately 7 weeks ago. It was actually from fellow Aussie Jeffrey Lewis. He basically stated that there is one type of gimmick match he has missed over the last couple of years & that is the tornado tag-team match. For those unaware, a tornado tag-team match is where there are no tags whatsoever. All 4 men just go at it & whoever gets the first pin or submission wins.

While I didn't expect it to score any votes on my gimmick match poll & I definitely wouldn't have voted for it myself, I actually agree with Jeffrey. I miss tornado tag-team matches too. In fact, I can't recall the last time the WWE had one. Thinking back over the past 10 years, the only ones that come to mind were in WCW. And I think that's a bit of a shame.

It's probably more a statement on the WWE's below average tag-team divisions over the past 5 years or so, as one disadvantage of tornado tag-team matches is that it means that the 4 participants are always involved continuously. And lately, I'm unsure that would be a good thing with some of the individual wrestlers involved in the chase for either brand's tag-team titles.

But now that both tag-team divisions have (arguably) improved a little, I feel it's time to revisit this type of gimmick match. If only for the fact that it's something different. It would be something that the WWE fans have not seen for so long, that they may actually take some interest in what's happening both in & out of the ring, where otherwise they may not have if it was just your standard tag match.

Another positive emanating from these type of matches is a certain intensity & hatred-driven feud that tends to be associated with this gimmick match. Whether it be purely historical, have to do with how the matches are structured, or anything else that I can't put my finger on, the intensity level tends to lift when a tornado tag-team match is taking place.

Furthermore, these bouts embrace an almost hardcore or no disqualification type of scenario which can often fit in nicely with a tag-team match or feud. Out of the ring action, foreign objects & 2 on 1 beatings go almost hand in hand with tornado tag-team matches. And personally, I think any one of those aspects could actually help out a division struggling for attention right now.


MAIN - Judgment Day 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] (Armageddon '04)
50-54: Mediocre & disappointing. [D] (EG: No Way Out '05)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: Royal Rumble '04 & No Way Out '04)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: Backlash '05)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: WrestleMania 21)
70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: Royal Rumble '05)
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+]

MNM defeated CHARLIE HAAS & HARDCORE HOLLY to Retain the WWE Tag-Team Championships: Solid 8 minute opener that did it's job more than sufficiently. Nothing spectacular or memorable, but very well booked to highlight the strengths of all 4 men. Holly was Holly, and MNM looked good as a team. Haas' technical wrestling wasn't highlighted, but he was made to look fairly strong with the hot tag, which included a surprising over the top-rope plancha. The booking also got the crowd involved very well & their importance in the success of this bout cannot be undervalued. Did what an opener should. Match Rating...7

CARLITO defeated THE BIG SHOW: Pretty much a waste of 5 minutes, except for 1 move. And that move wasn't even performed by either 1 of the participants; A good F-5 on TBS by Matt Morgan. The match itself was pretty much nothing, as Carlito doesn't have the established repertoire to match it with The Big Show as yet. Let alone the fact that he probably isn't 100% fit still. None of the expected humor was here either, which probably didn't help. Here comes Morgan vs The Big Show, I suppose. Match Rating...3

PAUL LONDON defeated CHAVO GUERRERO to Retain the Cruiserweight Title: Prototypical Chavo pay-per-view match, except that he didn't win. Chavo attacked London's ribs, which is logical booking after Chavo's countout win 2 or 3 weeks back. I also liked the fact that it was a big move (Chavo getting his knees up to block London's 450 splash) that started the onslaught. London's selling of the injury was sufficient, although it wouldn't stand microscopic investigation. Given enough time at 11 minutes, this bout actually looked a little awkward when the high-flying kicked in. Still pretty good though & great to see London getting a little more time with the title. Match Rating...7

BOOKER T defeated KURT ANGLE: Imperfect, but still quite good, the ridiculous storyline did add some intensity to this bout, but indirectly hindered the structure of it. While the action was back & forth, and the pace ok, there seemed to be no great structure, meaning that the 2 wrestlers seemed to be moving from one move to another with no real reason other than being mad at their opponent. Like I said, it makes some sense because of the storyline, but didn't really help the quality of the match. Seriously, the quality of the house show match that I saw 7 weeks ago between these 2 was better than this. Don't get me wrong though, this was still quite good, as the 2 combatants know how to get the job done in the ring. A surprise counter at the 15 minute mark gave Booker the upset win, but again, the pinfall (while clever) could have been done better. In Melbourne, Booker won with his corner turnbuckle sunset flip pin, and that would have been better here. Hard to rate, this match was way to storyline-oriented, even up to & including the match aftermath. Hopefully, they get another chance to do better. Match Rating...7

ORLANDO JORDAN defeated HEIDENREICH to Retain the United States Title: There is a column topic in this match alone, because it is evidence that OJ could actually be the most poorly booked champion ever. No-one cares about him. Hell, I was trying to recall what his finisher was from the time his music hit & I couldn't (he won this match with a DDT). In addition to a pretty bad bout, we had to put up with an overacting kid & a terrible poem before the match. Not to mention the fact that both wrestlers seemed to forget to kick out of a pinfall once each! Get the U.S Title off Jordan & build him up properly, if at all. Match Rating...3

REY MYSTERIO defeated EDDIE GUERRERO by Disqualification: Another angle-oriented match, but these 2 phenomenal wrestlers made the storyline work to their advantage. Both men continued to step up in their roles & are looking more like main-eventers by the week. 19 minutes in length, this bout had a lot more structure, intensity & psychology than the earlier Booker vs Angle match. They mainly stayed grounded to the mat, but the fast-paced & high-flying moments were well placed & performed. I fear that many will not have liked the DQ ending to the bout, but I personally think it was a good touch. Not only does it keep the "Can Eddie beat Rey" angle alive, but it flat out ensures us that there will be more of this great feud to watch. Match Rating...9

JOHN CENA defeated JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD in an "I Quit" Match to Retain the WWE Championship: I must say that while I haven't been a great fan of this feud, the WWE made me care before the match with a terrifically produced promo. It also carried on into the match, as the 2 combatants carefully tried to set each other up more than anything else. Of course, JBL's taunts & threats to end Cena's mainstream career also went down well. There was pretty much a good mix of everything which suited this gimmick match; Decent, if not innovative spots. Plenty of blood. And of course, the usual lashings of foreign object shots. It was all quite good really..... & then it just ended at the 22 minute mark when Cena threatened to hit JBL with the exhaust off a truck. A terribly disappointing finish. Mainly as there was way too long of a timeframe between the last offensive move & JBL saying "I Quit". Hell, I'm unsure Cena had even started to threaten to use the weapon before the match was over!!! Overall, a sufficient, if not outstanding, main event. Match Rating...7.5

PPV RATING (43.5/70) = 62

Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2005 version of Judgment Day a 'C+' grade & said that it was 'worth a watch'. I'll stick by that comment. Almost similar in rating to Raw's last ppv effort at Backlash, this had many similarities. Both were sufficient outings for the WWE, but will pretty much fade from the memory fairly quickly. If anything, I was a little more disappointed in this event, as there may have been more potential here. There were a little too many similarities during this card (EG: Rey & London both with rib injuries, while the Booker/Angle & Eddie/Rey bouts had not too dissimilar storylines) & not all matches were allowed to play out for the best. However, all in all, Judgment Day '05 was nothing too terrible & pretty solid from top to bottom.


DESSERT

'Favorite Gimmick Match' Poll Results

Well, as most of you already know, I have run a few polls here in my tenure. The first few received roughly the same amount of votes; between 90 & 120. Then, my 'Most Memorable Moment Ever' poll received just under 180 votes. My poll on finishing moves then blew them all out of the water with approximately 240 votes. The final one in August of last year was the 'Greatest Wrestler Ever' poll which accumulated approximately 200 votes in total.

I scrounged a few extra votes to have this poll also finish with exactly 200 votes, so it's a nice round number to work off. What amazed me here though was the amount of gimmick matches I received votes for. I was genuinely expecting no more than 15 types of matches to receive votes. But in total, I received votes for 26 gimmick matches. And that doesn't include the votes I received for any Judy Bagwell variation of match!!!

Of those 26, 9 types of gimmick matches only received 1 vote, while another 4 received 2 votes. I will only list those 13, while listing & commenting on the top 13 that received 3 votes or more. Hopefully, I can give some of my own opinion mixed in with a summation of why people voted for the type of match that they did.

The number listed following the gimmick match is the actual amount of votes that it received. So here we go...

(1) Ladder Match = 35 votes: The winner of this poll by what I would call a fairly clear margin. Also my pick as the best gimmick match, most voters could not look past this type of match due to the quality it's provided for over a decade now. Also, excluding the occasional Kane or Undertaker hiccup, the WWE's placement of wrestlers in these bouts has been near perfect.

(2) TLC = 29: The extension of the ladder match, many readers simply thought this was a ladder match with a couple of more variables. May have won this poll if we had seen this type of match recently.

(3) Hell In A Cell = 26: Chosen as the best of the cage matches, this seemed to be the most favored option lying halfway between an old-fashioned cage match & other types of more gimmicked types of cages also on this list.

(4) Elimination Chamber = 24: The most recent example of the "more gimmicked types of cages" is catching on well. With a little more history, I can see this moving up this list within a couple of years.

(5) IronMan = 13: Probably the most surprising of all results, almost all voters liked this type of match as it's almost physically impossible to have 2 bad wrestlers involved in one of them. While not always entertaining for the full 60 minutes, match quality is assured in one way or another.

(6) Royal Rumble = 11: Annual tradition which is basically a "can't miss" every January. May have ranked higher if some people remembered it was a type of gimmick match.

(7) Hardcore/Streetfight/No DQ = 10: I decided to lump these 3 all in one, as I am unaware of any real difference. I get the feeling that it was mostly ECW fans who voted here, and not the Crash Holly variety.

(8T) Battle Royal = 9: An old favorite, it was good to see 9 votes here. I'm thinking the Royal Rumble may have taken some votes away though.

(8T) Cage = 9: Actually, this is the most surprising result of this poll in my opinion. I fully expected the old-fashioned cage match to rank in the top 5. But it seems that with new constructions such as HIACell & the EChamber, the standard cage match is almost history.

(10) Submission = 6: Decent support here for a rarely used type of match. I'm not the hugest fan of them, but used occasionally & involving the correct wrestlers, they can be interesting.

(11T) 4 on 4 Survivor Series = 4: One type of match that I didn't even think of. And I'm not only glad that it got some votes, but also that the WWE use it every November.

(11T) War Games = 4: Ironic to see that WCW's caged version of the Survivor Series 4 on 4 match received the same amount of votes. Although, I did expect a little more votes here.

(13) Triple Tier Cage = 3: Well, it seems like some people like the extremely gimmicked triple tier cage.

(14T) Buried Alive = 2
(14T) Inferno = 2
(14T) King of the Mountain = 2
(14T) Russian Chain = 2

(18T) Casket = 1
(18T) Hair vs Hair = 1
(18T) "I Quit" = 1
(18T) Loser Leaves Town = 1
(18T) Scaffold = 1
(18T) Stairway To Hell = 1
(18T) Tables = 1
(18T) Texas Bullrope = 1
(18T) Ultimate X = 1


Ok, that is all for edition #131 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope you enjoyed it. I think the results of the poll were especially interesting & very entertaining to read through. Any feedback on the poll results are quite welcome. As is your opinion on my Judgment Day review. As per usual, I will reply to all feedback. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Otherwise, if you are an LOPForums member, you may also leave feedback by clicking on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=4889

So, what's on the agenda for next week's 'Wrestling Menu'...??? Well, this is the way it will go over the next 2 weeks. I have an exceptionally busy fortnight ahead both at work & away from it. On one of the next 2 Wednesdays, I will skip a column. On the other Wednesday, I will have a review of 'The Rise + Fall of ECW' DVD. I'm about half way through that at the moment, so if I get time to finish it & write up a review by next Wednesday, then I will most definitely post it then. Otherwise, it will be the week after & still before the ECW 'One Night Stand' ppv. Look out for that column same Wednesday time & same LOP channel. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.












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