DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – Unforgiven Predictions, Booking Shelton + DX vs nWo
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 at 1:00 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #193

Welcome one and all to the 193rd edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Last week’s introduction went on way too long, so this week I am going to shutup & get straight into the column! Plus, I can’t think of anything random to write this week!

Oh, hang on a tick… Yes, I can. I mentioned it briefly at the end of the column last week, but I will say it again today: I have been stating that I did not want to do anything big & grandiose for my milestone #200 edition when it comes around. While I am still leaning that way, I may be able to be talked into it if someone suggests a great idea. I think there have already been some suggestions posted over at my feedback thread on the new & improved LOP Forums, so if you want to get your brain moving, or suggest something yourself, please click on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=217

On with the show…..


APPETIZERS – DX vs nWo

To be honest, I don’t even find myself wanting to write about this particular subject, but it’s timely & I have already received a few emails asking me what I think of this potential storyline. The fact that I don’t really want to write about the topic should give away my reaction towards a possible feud between these 2 stables that were both extremely popular in the mid to late 1990’s; I am not in favor of bringing into the WWE any combination of the New World Order!

Would I be curious to see how it played put…??? Partially. I would be lying if I said I was totally disinterested. Plus, even if I was, you could bet your life savings that it would get such prominence on WWE programming that it would be too difficult to ignore. The D-Generation X vs McMahons feud has proven this & substituting the nWo for 2 (practically) non-wrestlers would be an upgrade to most observers.

There are 3 main reasons why I am against such a move. Firstly, all 3 of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Sean Waltman have been known to play political games backstage. As much as the WWE may feel that they can control this nowadays, any partial existence of it is enough to suggest that WWE programming may be poorer as a result of any backstage politics. So while the risk is definitely lowered here in 2006, the potential return simply isn’t worth the risk.

Secondly, Hall, Nash & Waltman are simply not getting any younger. They weren’t very good in the ring during various reincarnations in TNA over the past 3 years, so they’re not going to be any better now. They also have a higher likelihood of getting injured here in 2006. Furthermore, even though Nash especially is rather entertaining on the microphone, I even feel that his shtick has run a little old nowadays.

Finally, such an angle simply screams to me “short-term”. Let us presume that the WWE does a great job in re-introducing the nWo to us, and their feud with Triple H & Shawn Michaels gets a little bit of initial steam behind it. They may even have an entertaining bout on a pay-per-view. All seems well & good… But then what? As far as I am concerned, nothing would come next. Any potential storyline from there would only be as bad as Nash vs the X-Division, except worse, because it wouldn’t only just be Nash.

While considering the above fact, also remember that it would probably cost the WWE a pretty penny to sign the wrestlers to a contract, simply because they believe they still have star-power here in 2006. And contracts usually come in year blocks, so the WWE would most likely have to either pay them out upon release, or bore us to death with useless feuds following the initial contests with DX.

To sum up; I think I put it best earlier when I said the risks simply aren’t worth the returns. While there can arguably be some good come out of a DX vs nWo feud, it’s not enough good to attempt such a (proven) risk.


MAIN – Booking Shelton

Before I get into it, there is a bit of a story behind this column topic. I actually wrote the shell of it about 3 weeks ago as I felt that I required at least one backup topic if I continued to have further problems with my home computer. But it has been modified for a couple of reasons & because of that, please forgive me if it seems disjointed. That shell of a column was very positive towards the WWE in their booking of Shelton Benjamin. And you will clearly see those positive remnants in this finished piece. But due to his appearances on Heat over the past 3-4 weeks, then I have obviously changed my tune quite a fair bit. In a way, it was lucky that I didn’t post this about a month ago, or else I would have looked quite foolish. As the WWE used to always promote; “Anything can happen in the WWE”.

I have actually written about Shelton Benjamin in depth before. From memory, it was during a lull in his WWE career when he was inexplicably booked to wrestle on the B Grade ‘Heat’ television show for weeks on end. I thought that there must have been something we didn’t know about at the time (maybe disciplinary reasons or something like that). That can be the only reason why such a talent was being used in such a horrible way. It didn’t necessarily bother me that he wasn’t main-eventing or the World Champion, I just wanted him to be wrestling on Raw most weeks, in order to lift the in-ring quality of the show.

And in the first 7 months of 2006, that is exactly what Shelton Benjamin was doing; Wrestling on Raw week after week in what can be fairly called the InterContinental Title Division. And he was doing a great job of putting together great midcard matches with the likes of Carlito, Johnny Nitro, Kane & even John Cena. For mine, this was terrific. Shelton Benjamin was being used exactly how he should be at this stage of his career. Was it enough? To some people, it was not. To some people, he was still being wasted. I wasn’t so certain of that & could see the WWE’s thinking.

The idea for this topic was actually given to me by a loyal reader of mine (James) who emailed me about the way Shelton Benjamin was being used. It started out as a fairly general opinion, but after a number of emails back & forth, got a little more detailed & specific. Yet, the topic can be a more general one than people think. And that is ‘how to use a talented young wrestler that still has a fair bit to learn’. The topic could suit other wrestlers such as Carlito, Johnny Nitro, Bobby Lashley, Ken Kennedy or even the likes of Samoa Joe & AJ Styles over in TNA. But for the sake of clarity, I’m going to stick with Shelton today. Well, I will try anyway.

Taking a trip back in time, I must admit that I was initially wrong with regards to how good of a wrestler Shelton Benjamin was. Some readers may actually recall that in my 2004 Rookie Rankings, I only ranked Benjamin as #6!!! The rookies I had ranked above him were Charlie Haas, Matt Morgan, Rene Dupree, Doug Basham & Garrison (Lance) Cade. Those rankings almost seem embarrassing now, but it just goes to show how difficult they are for me to do each year. I must be honest though & state that I did consider Benjamin as #1 (despite my lowly ranking of 6) that year. But I didn’t think his talent was high enough to overcome some other deficiencies he had. It’s sometimes difficult to see such quality in a rookie tag-team wrestler, but I still believe this to be the perfect way to debut a young rookie.

As soon as Benjamin debuted on Raw following a draft lottery trade, his talent was there for all to see. This guy could do it all & his potential was possibly limitless. The WWE couldn’t ignore it, and they didn’t. They correctly gave Shelton a good midcard position & even had him wrestle main-eventer Triple H in a series of matches. This further excited fans & showed all of us what he was capable of. But it disappointed some that he settled in the midcard & that fact holds true to this very day.

In my opinion, the WWE were predominantly doing the correct thing in their use of Shelton Benjamin earlier this year. As much as I would have liked him to be, he was not ready for the main event. That doesn’t mean that he never will be. Nor does it mean that he hasn’t improved since his debut on the Raw brand. It just means simply that a push to the main event right now could do his career more harm than good. In fact, a good analogy could be to Edge from 3-5 years ago. I believe that if Edge was pushed to genuinely main-eventing after his very good performances in feuds against Kurt Angle & Eddie Guerrero, we may not be seeing the main-eventing R rated Superstar that we know today.

If anything, the WWE will usually push bigger & stronger wrestlers to the main event prematurely. This is why this same topic specifically speaking about Bobby Lashley (or even Samoa Joe in TNA) is a lot more difficult to form a conclusion on. But Shelton is not a giant by any means. Looking back over the past decade or so at those superstars of smaller stature that have climbed the WWE mountain, we see the likes of Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, John Cena and Rey Mysterio. With the possible exceptions of Mysterio & Benoit (who both are more than sufficient), these 6 men all had great charisma & mic work to go with their good, if not exceptional, in-ring work.

As much as some try to look past the fact, Shelton Benjamin is sadly lacking when it comes to charisma & mic work. I just don’t feel that he can main-event at this time because of that. Correctly, the WWE have tried to work on these deficiencies… one at a time. Bringing in the Shelton’s momma character was a good idea for mine. It provided a voice for Shelton, while giving him a character to play with. By portraying the heel momma’s boy character, Benjamin improved his charisma a little. The subsequent cocky heel (some call it the Terrell Owens) character has also done the same & you can see him improving in little things such as facials & even selling.

I would have to state that I am a little disappointed at the rate of Shelton’s improvement & I think this has possibly made the WWE keep him off the microphone. I’m unsure if this was necessarily the correct way to go, as he needed the mic time in order to improve. Plus, the character practically requires mic work to be fully effective. But either way, I cannot agree with the WWE demoting Shelton Benjamin back down to Heat for the past 3-4 weeks. Presuming there is no separate reason for this such as a disciplinary reason (& I doubt there is because there has been no suspension of any sort), this is a ridiculous decision. It’s taking a genuinely quality wrestler away from the fans. If the WWE deem there is no room for him on Raw, then ship him over to Smackdown where he would fit in very well.

I don’t know, maybe the problem lies deeper in the fact that Shelton simply plays a better face than heel & needs to be repackaged. The quality of his in-ring work would suggest so. Only time will tell. And time is something that Shelton Benjamin fortunately has up his sleeve. It may not be at a great rate, but he is improving. The main-event potential is still well & truly there. It’s just a matter of both him & the WWE being patient. But demoting him to Heat is not being patient, it’s being foolish. Yes, I would much rather Shelton Benjamin be a long-term main-eventer in 3-5 years time, than him have a short reign at the top in 2006. But in the meantime, please allow him to wow us fans on one of the WWE’s main shows & not hide him away on a show that hardly anyone watches.


DESSERT

Unforgiven Predictions

CARLITO vs RANDY ORTON: I think I would personally prefer the InterContinental Title bout open the show, but history suggests that the WWE like both Carlito & Orton taking part in the opener. Due to some of the bigger matches on this card being given plenty of build-up time, this feud has taken a little bit of a backseat. Despite this, I think the WWE have been efficient in setting this match up & given the feud sufficiently good build-up. What it has lacked in time (quantity), has been more than made up in quality. And if anything, it has allowed the feud room to continue past this ppv. The match itself should be rather good. Presuming it is given a little over 10 minutes, it would only require Carlito to keep things moving in order for it to be rather entertaining. There may be the usual Orton resthold or 2, but if booked correctly, it should be used logically in order for him to ground his faster & more high-flying opponent. The result is a bit of a toss up, but I’ll go with the heel due to his loss to Hogan last month. Winner: Randy Orton

LITA vs TRISH STRATUS for the Women’s Title: While the Mickie James title loss reeked of booking on the fly, it appears as if it was solely used to set up this final match for Trish Stratus. And in this case, I have no problems with it all, since it’s quite fitting that Trish retire against her nemesis Lita. The 2 have wrestled many times before, but due to Lita’s bad run of injuries, the matches have been far enough in the past to make this match-up seem fresh enough. Quality-wise, this should be good. Against each other in the ring, they haven’t been as great as they could have been in the past, but the occasion should make them step up here. Helping the bout out to no end should be a terrific crowd response in Trish’s home town. I am curious to see what the WWE have planned as the result, but I’m going to suggest something a little special & emotional, by actually having Trish win the title in her farewell match. Winner: Trish Stratus

KANE vs UMAGA: Sufficiently built up big man feud where the match quality can go either one of two ways. The WWE will most likely want to further Umaga’s powerhouse character & have this be a typical big man’s bout. But with both these men having underrated agility, this match could actually surprise if booked with more pace & spots. As for the result, I can’t really see the inconsistently booked Kane stopping the push that the Samoan Bulldozer is currently receiving. How clean the win is will be another matter. Winner: Umaga

JOHNNY NITRO vs JEFF HARDY for the InterContinental Title: Nice, simple, effective & structured booking has resulted in this bout which could potentially steal the show here. Despite some of the other potentially good bouts on the card, these 2 showed enough on last week’s episode of Raw to suggest they could be capable of something very memorable here. The match being given 10 minutes would help, but much will rest on the amount of rehearsal these 2 do with each other in the lead up to the bout. The bout will undoubtedly carry some innovative and/or death-defying spots, so if these 2 can perform all of them crisply, then the quality of this match could really surprise. Melina is sure to become involved & I hope that doesn’t adversely affect the bout too much. As for the result, this is another toss up, but it may be a little too soon for Hardy to win a title upon return. So I will say that the heel champ retains & I am hoping like hell that the WWE can get Shelton Benjamin involved in some sort of triple feud that could result in one hell of an amazing match. Maybe even throw Carlito into a four-way! Winner: Johnny Nitro

TRIPLE H & SHAWN MICHAELS vs VINCE McMAHON, SHANE McMAHON & THE BIG SHOW in a Handicap Hell In A Cell Match: I initially had this slated as the main event, but have changed my mind over the past fortnight. I suppose adding both the Cell gimmick & The Big Show to the equation provides sufficient variety to a feud that has arguably run its course. With both members of DX being experienced cell participants, they can bring enough to the table here, while Vince will bring his blood, Shane will bring a spot or 2, and TBS will bring his size. Leading up to this week, I actually wasn’t certain who would win this bout. But following the McMahon faction dominating this past episode of Raw, I would have to think that it will be D-Generation X emerging victorious from what should be an entertaining, if rather predictable, match. Winner: Triple H & Shawn Michaels

THE SPIRIT SQUAD vs THE HIGHLANDERS for the World Tag-Team Titles: I figure this may be the best bout to use as the cushion for the 2 main-events. It will most likely be rather short, but paced at a decent rate in order to make it passable. The feud has been built up relatively well when considering tag-team title matches from the past year or 2. But that’s not really saying much, is it? The Spirit Squad have basically been ignored as tag champions since their title win a few months back, so I see no reason whatsoever to keep the titles on them here. Give Robbie & Rory a run with the belts & see what they can do with rather limited effort being given to the division by the WWE. The best bet here is to allow whichever 2 members of The Spirit Squad (most likely Kenny & Mikey) to jump around and provide the pace & aerial moves, but get defeated by some form of interference gone wrong. Winners: The Highlanders

EDGE vs JOHN CENA in a TLC Match for the WWE Championship: I have always preferred that WWE Championship matches be the main-event of a ppv, but I had huge doubts as to whether this match-up would do so given the Hell In A Cell match also placed on the card. However, Edge, Cena & the WWE have done a tremendous job in building up this feud, as well as giving it a gimmick that could be just enough to allow this match to main-event instead. The effectiveness & growing nature of their feud should allow both wrestlers to bring greater intensity into the bout, while the TLC rules should provide them with enough variation & distractions to add a few minutes onto their previous efforts. That’s not even mentioning the crowd interaction, which should be extremely one-sided in favoring the heel & most likely will add to the entertaining nature of this match!

I really expect this to be a good contest & hope that both men realize how important it is to both of their careers. The unpredictability of the result is the icing on top of the cake here, as bringing the SmackDown contract into play is extremely clever & adds some intrigue & fan conjecture to the equation. I have been tossing & turning on the winner all week, but have decided to go with Cena. It’s a close call, but it’s the promotion of his movie on a higher rated show which is the only thing that sways me here. Not a great reason, but this is so 50-50, that it’s sufficient in my mind. Winners: John Cena


Well, there you have it; The 2006 version of ‘Unforgiven’. What a nice little single-brand pay-per-view that it looks like. 2 main events. 2 midcard matches that could tear the house down. A Woman’s Title match that is interesting & is receiving some time & effort. Plus 2 undercard bouts that shouldn’t be too horrible. I actually feel that 7 matches will be all that is on the card, as I am guessing that the 2 main events will take up quite a lot of time. Just as importantly as the card itself is the fact that many, if not all, of the matches have been given above-average build-up that have made us care about them. Good stuff all around & I can tell by the amount of emails I have received over the past fortnight that this event will be getting a higher buyrate than previous years. Let’s just hope that we fans aren’t disappointed!


Ok, that’s another one in the books & I hope you all enjoyed it. If you would like to provide feedback on any of the 3 topics that I have discussed today, you may do so by emailing me. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com. But if you are an LOP Forums member, it would be much appreciated if you could leave feedback on my thread at http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=217

Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', my weekly streak will continue with my review of ‘Unforgiven’. I may also talk about Trish Stratus’ departure from the WWE in more detail. Otherwise, I’m certain that the wacky world of professional wrestling will give me something else to write about during the week. Who knows… A wrestler may accuse Vince McMahon of firing him because he is gay! As per usual, my column will be posted at the same Wednesday time on the same LOP channel. 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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***DIRECT LINK*** A Must See! New Pix of TRISH STRATUS Doing HER NEW YOGA!

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