DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - 'No Way Out' Review, Carlito + Will Edge Be Champ Again?
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 at 2:17 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #164

Welcome one and all to the 164th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Another 5 figure hit count for last week’s column. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my ramblings, as it’s always very flattering when I think that over 10,000 people read the opinions that I share with the world.

I was on 'Velocity' watch last weekend & I saw something rather amazing. No, it was not the hyped “match of the year” between Super Crazy & Nunzio (which I felt was solid & nothing more). It was for a move that Paul London pulled off. In a tag match between him & Brian Kendrick against The Dicks, London performed a Shooting Star Press off one Dick that was kneeling in the ring, over the ropes & on to the other Dick standing outside of the ring on the floor. It wasn’t perfectly hit, but just the thought of pulling off that move did my head in. In my opinion, there is still potential in the London/Kendrick tag-team, as well as London getting a future push as a singles competitor.

Ok, this column may be a little shorter than my usual over-length, but it still should be choc full of scrumptious goodies. On with the show…


APPETIZERS

Carlito's Improvement?

I wasn’t going to write about this initially, but I like to use topics that emanate from multiple emails that I receive from readers (which I have done with 2 topics today). In this case, I have probably received about 5-7 emails over the past 6 weeks concerning this topic. Basically, the emails all stated (or asked about) the improvement that Carlito has shown in the ring so far in 2006.

I’m actually not too sure about this. I’m not saying that Carlito hasn’t been great wrestling-wise this year, but it’s the “improvement” part of the statement that I may have issues with. With the Rookie Rankings that I do every November, I often have the difficult task of attempting to work out what a wrestler may have up their sleeve. And part of the reason I ranked Carlito as the # 1 rookie of 2004 was because I was adamant he was not showing us his full range of wrestling moves.

How did I get this impression? It was a couple of things that Carlito did in his early performances. I think it’s fairly safe to say that some of his performances upon debut were nothing super special. He was handed the US Title upon debut & defended it regularly enough. But his push was more based on his charisma & mic skills. In the ring, it almost appeared as if he was going through the motions. In fact, I felt he was… intentionally! It’s as if he knew that he had to wrestle the WWE style & tell a story... He was probably told to.

But in a match against Rey Mysterio somewhere along the way, I saw more than one hint that Carlito Caribbean Cool had a fair bit more up his sleeve. Granted, Rey does have the ability to make many wrestlers look good in the ring, but it was just a couple of instances that were actually instigated by Carlito that had me thinking. No, I can’t recall what those moves were. But needless to say, they involved a faster pace & more athleticism than what we had seen up until that stage. He didn’t actually come out & perform a springboard moonsault, but you could practically tell that he was capable of such a move. Couple that with the fact that he was learning to tell a decent story in the ring & 2 conclusions could be reached; (1) This was why the WWE were pushing him, and (2) this guy could only improve, possibly even be a future main-eventer.

The emails this year started following the ‘New Years Revolution’ pay-per-view. Carlito surprisingly adapted very well to the match type (Elimination Chamber). And while he still seemed awkward at times with taking big bumps or brawling with the best of them, he used everything he has learnt storytelling-wise very well. Furthermore, he showed some of that athleticism that he had hinted at previously with (going purely by memory) a nice over the top rope senton onto an opponent lying down on the steel structure.

But the clincher to prove that Carlito can effectively mix different styles of wrestling came on Raw a little over 2 weeks ago when Carlito wrestled Rob Van Dam in what was a very good match. Carlito, successfully worked off of RVD’s spots, performed his own & told a fairly good story to boot. His springboard moonsault spot was especially impressive & had even his detractors thinking twice about his ability.

In fact, this raises another topic & that’s concerning wrestlers showing their hand too early. To use a poker example, it’s better to check-raise when you have got a very strong hand, than raise immediately. And I have a feeling that this is what Carlito (with the WWE’s blessing) is doing. He is simply going to unleash another part of his repertoire every month or so. Actually, I would have preferred him to leave the springboard moonsault for a pay-per-view. Then again, RVD was probably the best opponent to perform it against & WrestleMania 22 was a long way away.

Some still aren’t convinced, but with each passing month, I can’t help but feel that Carlito is indeed main-event bound some time during 2007. While many people may not even consider that fact, I am once more attempting to foresee the future. And an eventual face turn is in Carlito’s future. Personally, I think he could pull off a face turn rather easily. This would add more layers to his persona, while he adds more layers to his repertoire. Conclusion: The future should be cool for Carlito.


MAIN

'No Way Out' 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: Royal Rumble '06)
55-59: Average. [C] (EG: New Years Revolution '06)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: Armageddon '05)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: Survivor Series '05)
70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: SummerSlam '05)
75-79: Make sure you add this ppv to your video or dvd collection. [A] (EG: ECW: One Night Stand)
80+ : Make sure that the video or dvd is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

GREGORY HELMS defeated PSICHOSIS, SUPER CRAZY, PAUL LONDON, BRIAN KENDRICK, KID KASH, SCOTTY 2 HOTTY, FUNAKI & NUNZIO to Retain the Cruiserweight Title: This wasn’t a battle royal or gauntlet match, but simply threw 9 men into the ring & awarded the title to the first wrestler to gain a pinfall! I think they called it a ‘Sudden Death’ match officially. Sounds confusing & it was initially. But it was decently enough booked & delivered enough of the usual entertaining cruiserweight action to make it succeed. Not much room for storytelling, so I’m unsure why Funaki, Nunzio & even Scotty were required. Where the hell was Jamie Noble anyway? In fact, for the first half of the bout, it may as well have been a tag match between The MexiCools & London/Kendrick. But an entertaining, if a little too rehearsed, extended finishing sequence involving those 4 men plus Kash & Helms finished the match off very well. Helms ended up stealing the pin at the 10 minute mark and, presuming it’s continued to be given time, the ‘Helms vs cruiserweight world’ storyline may just work. Entertaining opener. Match Rating...7

JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD defeated BOBBY LASHLEY: Before this match started, Finlay threatened to beat up interviewer Krystal. This brought Lashley to the ring to make the save & a 1 minute brawl ensued before JBL emerged to begin the scheduled bout. Following some brief offense from JBL, Lashley dominated the first 5 minutes of the bout. He did so with a combination of impressive athleticism & strength. But more importantly, he seems to have improved the crispness of most of his moves, as well as his ring presence. JBL soon swayed the momentum & he took over with his usual methodical offense (although he did throw in an awkward looking top-rope elbow-drop). A sleeper-hold was then used, before the rookie fought back with a power-slam (countering another top-rope move), 4 belly to belly suplexes & a t-bone suplex in another impressive spurt. Just as Lashley was about to finish JBL off though, Finlay re-emerged & struck Big Bobby with his wooden thingamajig (shelaileigh?). A clothesline from hell later & JBL ends Lashley’s winning streak at the 11 minute mark. Better than expected & an impressive display from the rookie made this bout a success. Lashley definitely showed improvement & very much won the crowd over. Match Rating...7.5

BATISTA SEGMENT: This was a nice touch, despite not having much of an impact. For that reason, I was hoping that it would be shorter & I wouldn’t have to include it in my PPV Rating. But considering that it went on for over 8 minutes, I must. It was a welcome surprise to see Batista show up un-announced & the crowd were definitely into the appearance. His promo was pretty good, although very predictable & standard. Overall, it was a nice touch & a way to keep the former champ in the minds of the audience. In a side note, I thought Batista looked a little Rock-like with his haircut & clothing. Segment Rating...5

MATT HARDY & TATANKA defeated MnM: At the beginning of this match, it was announced that this was a non-title bout. That pretty much gave away the result as far as I was concerned. The announcement of Tatanka as Hardy’s mystery partner didn’t bother me as much as it did some others, as I think he has been performing decently on 'Velocity' over the past fortnight. Even match which was nothing too bad, but just seemed to drift along at a mundane pace for most of the bout. Things picked up after a nice offensive sequence from Hardy, which got the crowd back on side after a short “boring” chant. The new team eventually got the win a little anti-climactically at the 10 minute mark. Pretty solid, but there just wasn’t a strong enough story to carry the set-up part of this match. I can’t see the Hardy/Tatanka team lasting too long & they’re definitely not worth tag-team champs right now. I just wish that MnM were booked a little stronger. Match Rating...6

CHRIS BENOIT defeated BOOKER T to Win the United States Title: Before the match started, Booker faked forfeiting the title before attacking Benoit from behind to get things moving. And it was a terrific start to the bout after that, as both men used crisp impact on each & every move to emphasize their point. That continued for about 7 minutes & the match was really setting up something special. But then Booker unfortunately slowed the pace down with a combination of restholds. Benoit predictably made the strong comeback, and while it was good action, it took me a couple of minutes to get right back into the bout. In fact, it was a missed Harlem (or Houston) Hangover (top-rope somersault legdrop) by Booker that finally caught my attention fully. A good & solid extended finishing sequence saw Booker tap out to a clever sharpshooter / crossface combo at the 18 minute mark. Could have been better, but still a very solid match that might be a fitting end to their feud. Both men definitely still showed that they are more than useful in the upper-midcard, if not higher. Match Rating...7.5

RANDY ORTON defeated REY MYSTERIO to Become the #1 Contender for the World HeavyWeight Title: The crowd were very much into this right from the beginning of the match. And to be honest, I cannot remember being so interested in a singles match for a few months now. Orton initially plays cocky & controls the early pace, only allowing Rey a couple of flashes of offense. While attempting a hurracanrana on the outside, Orton counters by swinging Rey into the ringpost. This results in an arm injury that Randy targets for the majority of the bout. But cleverly & wisely, instead of allowing Orton to use constant submission or restholds, the match was booked to allow intermittent offense from Mysterio. In fact, it was a little more than intermittent, which probably foreshadowed the fact that the bout would not make it past 20 minutes in length. Some nice, if not classic, moves were included in the match. But it was the fact that their 2 wrestling styles meshed quite well that was the major ingredient for a successful bout here. For that reason, I would have preferred if these guys were tested further over about 25 minutes. But as it turned out, Rey missed the 619 & got rolled up (with the help of some leverage from the ropes) at the 17 minute mark.

Nicely put together & performed, while obviously being helped greatly by the storyline set-up. Furthermore, I think a touch of unpredictability also helped the bout, as we were never quite sure (as the WWE may still not be) what is planned for WrestleMania 22 regarding the World HeavyWeight Title match. Sure, it still could have been a lot better, but on this showing, it all holds well for a future feud between these two. As the icing on the cake, the ending may suggest a WrestleMania triple-threat title match, while the slightly emotional aftermath (Rey disappointingly being greeted by Chavo, Vicki & colleagues) may also suggest yet another layer to the ever-improving Mysterio character. Match Rating...8

KURT ANGLE defeated THE UNDERTAKER to Retain the World HeavyWeight Title: I can’t say that I was especially into the set-up for this match, as the WWE (probably correctly) presumed that the match-up would sell itself. There was some nice byplay between the 2 to begin with, and then ‘Taker targeted the arm of the champion. It wasn’t too long before Kurt got on top though, and he counter-targets The Undertaker’s leg. The bout meandered along a little at this stage, but it was to be expected due to what was always going to be a rather lengthy match. Following a ringpost Figure 4 Leglock, Kurt brilliantly counters an apron leg-drop into an ankle-lock on the outside. ‘Taker eventually works his way back into the match with a triangle choke, but Angle holds sway after an Angle Slam into the Spanish Announce Table (which was a crowd-pleasing spot). This should have ended the bout, as ‘Taker was about to be counted out. But Kurt stopped the referees count intentionally to allow the match to continue.

What followed was a rather amazing, if a little prolonged & rehearsed, closing sequence that saw multiple near pinfalls & near tap outs. Multiple ankle-locks, triangle chokes, counters & reversals all finally ended at the 30 minute mark when Kurt nicely flipped into a bridge for the pinfall, while he was still in the triangle choke hold. Only slightly awkward on rare occasions, the face vs face dynamic was very well countered by the competitive nature (storyline) of the bout. The match moved along at a sufficient pace, was entertaining for the most part & well performed. While the absence of any interference was welcome, I can’t help but think that the overlong finishing sequence was just a little much & hampered the realism (& natural flow) of the bout. Having said that, it didn’t take away from the fact that it was all still very captivating & entertaining. A worthy ppv main-event, the match of the night & arguably in the top 3 of the Undertaker’s best ever matches! Match Rating...9

PPV RATING (50/70) = 71

Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2006 version of 'No Way Out' a 'B+' grade & said that it was 'very good'. I feel that is pretty much spot on. That’s a tremendous effort from the WWE on this event & it only trails the ‘Vengeance’ pay-per-view from last year when it comes to ratings for single-brand events. A terrific main event was backed up by a very good secondary match. The 2 midcard bouts were solid (both rating 7.5), while the filler bouts were above average. In fact, when you look at the match ratings compared to the order of importance of each match on the card, it’s almost the prototypical way that a ppv event should be set up & structured. As fans, we can never whine about the WWE having ppvs like this. Furthermore, they left us with interesting unanswered questions & feud development… Will Rey still sneak into the WM22 main event? If not, where does he fit into the WM22 picture? Will his persona change after this loss? What was the purpose behind Undertaker’s closing comments to Angle? Does Lashley move to a feud with Finlay, or is there unfinished business between him & JBL? Is there more to the Benoit vs Booker feud? And is the Helms vs all cruiserweights feud leading anywhere? No matter what the answers are, 'No Way Out' was a very good pay-per-view indeed. Kudos to all involved.


DESSERT

Will Edge Be Champ Again?

A few weeks back in my ‘Road to WrestleMania 22’ topic that followed my Royal Rumble review, I stated that I believed it was an incorrect decision to take the WWE Championship off Edge at the ppv. Despite good storyline progression since, I still stand by that comment & feel that the John Cena vs Triple H feud & match must be booked very carefully for it to succeed. At the time, I got my usual bombardment of emails. Some disagreed with my opinion, stating that the Cena vs Triple H feud needed as much build-up time as possible to ensure it succeeds. While others agreed, feeling that the title change could have occurred on an episode of Raw or at Saturday Night’s Main Event, without hurting the WrestleMania feud too much.

But the topic here is a question that I was asked at least 10 times during the couple of weeks that followed my comment. It was basically asking “Will Edge ever be World Champion again…???” Most asking this question felt that a 3 week title reign was a bad thing that would adversely affect the career of any professional wrestler. Some even compared this title reign to Kane’s 24 hour title reign of 1998!

My answer to the question posed is “YES”. My reasoning is as follows….. This WWE Championship reign was a little different to most others. In my opinion, Edge’s title reign was not planned. It came about almost on the spur of the moment due to circumstances. Those circumstances being the negative crowd reaction that current champion John Cena was receiving. Many fans felt that getting the title off of Cena would help win back a proportion of his fans. I believe that the WWE also felt this way & decided to switch the title over to Edge… for 3 weeks.

So, just to clarify; The original plan was for Edge to never win the title. When circumstances changed & he did, there was probably no way in the world that he was going to hold it past The Royal Rumble ppv. If you remember, that was initially my (and many others) original reactions. I did change my mind, but the WWE didn’t, probably thinking that he needed the title for the 2 months leading up to WrestleMania.

So what I am trying to say is that a 3 week title reign was an unexpected bonus for Edge. The success of the short reign was probably never even cared about for short-term purposes, because the title was always going to switch back to Cena. But for medium to long-term purposes, I think the WWE were paying attention to Edge’s title reign. And even his harshest critics would suggest that the ‘Rated R Superstar’ did a better than expected job. Good ratings, good quality matches (especially the TLC bout against Flair) & an impact hard to ignore.

And remember what I wrote about Rey Mysterio becoming heavyweight champion some time this year. He needed to be tested during a ppv main event first. Well, I feel this 3 week title reign was Edge’s impromptu test. It wasn’t planned & it was never going to last long. But it was a test to see if Edge could handle a proper (& planned) title reign in the future. I believe he passed that test, and therefore believe he will have another world title reign in the future.

I won’t specify which title it will be, or whether he will win it as a face or heel. The recent test would suggest it will be as a heel, but working on the same brand as Triple H (if he indeed remains heel) will make that achievement a little more difficult. So don’t count out a move back to SmackDown either this year or next.

Furthermore, I feel that Edge has proved he is worthy of the top billing. Despite his bad injury from a couple of years ago, he has proved that he can work against opponents of varying styles & skills. He can work an almost cruiserweight type match (as proven in the past against the likes of Rey, Eddie & Hardy), he can work a technical type match (as proven in the past against the likes of Angle & Benoit). And he has continued to improve in the heavyweight stakes with solid outings against the likes of Kane, Cena, etc…

But it could be his ability to mesh the styles that helps him out the most, as I can’t help but think that some time in the future, we will look back at the strangely booked, but successful, TLC match against Ric Flair as an important step in Edge’s career.


That is all for edition #164 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope you enjoyed it. As per usual, please don't hesitate to send me your thoughts on anything I wrote about today. I'm always interested to hear your feedback & ideas. And you know that I will reply to all feedback. Whether it be my 'No Way Out' review, my opinion on Carlito's improvement, and/or Edge regaining a World Title some time in the future, fire away! My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Or alternately, 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

Another Wednesday & another 'Wrestling Menu' next week. It will most probably be another DVD Review next week though. Apologies for those that don't care for them, but I have been busy watching quite a few of late & 2 or 3 of them are very timely right now. Next week's review will be no exception. And hey, a DVD review is better than no column at all, right? So 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.


DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu. 2002-2006

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

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