DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – Unforgiven Review, WWE Farewells + More
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 12:01 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #194

Welcome one and all to the 194th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

A few things popped up over the past couple of days & I was really pressed to write & post this column at my usual time. For that reason, the ‘Appetizers’ section of this column is admittedly a little bit of filler. Hopefully, it’s still sufficient to hold your attention.

My introductions have been too long of late, so this week we will get straight into the show…..


APPETIZERS – Odds & Ends

LAST WEEK’S COLUMN

Firstly, thank–you to over 7,000 of you for reading edition #193. I received a tremendously positive reaction to last week’s column, as all 3 topics seemed to go over really well. The email came thick & fast & seemed to be well spread over all 3 subjects. While not really getting a majority opinion on a potential DX vs nWo feud, the possibility of such an occurrence does indeed have the wrestling world talking.

My Shelton Benjamin topic also went over very well. Pretty much everyone agreed with my thoughts on this subject & the majority opinion seemed to be that the WWE may as well just switch him over to SmackDown now. He would probably go close to main-eventing on the Friday night show. Finally, if feedback to my Unforgiven predictions were any guide, then this past weekend’s pay-per-view should have received pleasing buyrates for the WWE.

COLUMN #200

Over the past couple of weeks, I have asked for potential topic ideas for my milestone column that will hopefully go down in 6 weeks time. I genuinely thank everyone who has taken the time to think of topics & suggest them to me. Some of your ideas have been very good & I can see myself using them at some point or another. However, nothing is standing out to me for this milestone as of now. I am considering a couple of options with minor adjustments, but the jury is still out.

One of the most common threads of the suggestions has been some sort of a poll. I must say that I didn’t realize how popular these were with my readers. In all honesty, I don’t actually think a poll would fit well with such a milestone column, so I will steer away from that for now. Don’t fret though, as I now at least have some ideas for future polls to come your way. If you would like to see some of the suggestions made or suggest something yourself, please click on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=217

MY PPV RATINGS

Over the years, I have had many of my readers suggest minor adjustments to my PPV ratings system. Things such as weighting different matches or reverting to the (possibly) more common 5 star system. I have decided against any such alteration, instead preferring to keep my ratings simple & without complication. It’s simple as far as I am concerned, if I rate a match 5 out of 10, then I believe it to have passed. Any lower & it fails. The only change I have made is to bring in half marks out of 10. This has simply given me the chance to differentiate between match qualities a little more.

The reason why I bring this up is because I have had quite a few readers email me over the past 3-4 months suggesting my ratings have been a little harsher of late. To be honest, I hadn’t really noticed it. But looking back, I can see why people have thought this. I’m pretty sure I’m not getting tired of the WWE product. I think it more has to do with me finally settling into the 0.5 rating alteration & the majority of matches being marked down that half-point, if anything.

UNFORGIVEN PREDICTIONS

It looks like I have found some form again with my PPV Predictions, as I arguably went 5.5 out of 7 at Unforgiven, if you count the Umaga vs Kane double countout as a half of 1 point. Following on from basically picking the card at SummerSlam, it was only the tag-team title match from this month’s event which let me down. I was actually very confident on that bout too, as I really thought it was time for The Spirit Squad to drop the titles. Keeping the titles around their waist is questionable booking in my mind.


MAIN – Unforgiven Review

<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: G A Bash '06)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: SummerSlam '06)
70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: No Way Out '06)
75-79: Make sure you add this ppv to your video or dvd collection. [A] (EG: One Night Stand '05)
80+ : Make sure that the video or dvd is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

JOHNNY NITRO defeated JEFF HARDY to Retain the InterContinental Title: Hardy, complete with braided hair, gets the better of a rather ho-hum beginning to the bout, as he grounds Nitro with 3 deep arm-drags. Business picks up on the outside as Jeff gets in some aerial action. The momentum then swings to the champ though, when he dropkicks the legs out from Hardy while the challenger was on the top-rope. Nitro proceeds to target the left leg of his opponent with a variety of moves that Jeff sells rather well. A missed corkscrew moonsault opens the door for Hardy, but a top-rope Whisper In The Wind only gets a 2 count. He then blocks a hurracanrana & hits the Swanton Bomb, but the champ gets his foot on the rope at 2. Some solid back & forth action follows, with Nitro pleasingly remembering to go back to the leg. But then it all ends rather cheaply at the 18 minute mark with Melina hitting Hardy in the head with her stiletto boots to get her man the pinfall.

Solid opener that probably took the majority of fans by surprise with the way it was performed & the time it got. Because of this, I can’t say that the bout reached the heights that it should have, but I think such a performance will serve these 2 well in the future, especially Nitro in only his 2nd year with the WWE. I really liked the idea of Nitro working on his opponent’s leg & the fact that he kept going back to it at the appropriate times really pleased me. However, I’m unsure that the match garnered enough excitement around that fact. Some will think that the long match duration was to blame for that, but I disagree with that as the storyline actually laid a great foundation. While the 2 definitely kicked it up a gear towards the end, I felt a little more excitement through nearfalls was required… And the disappointing finale certainly didn’t help. Solid opener & it’s promising to think that these 2 are capable of better. Match Rating…7

UMAGA & KANE Wrestled To A Double Countout: To the approval of the majority of the live audience, Estrada introduces Umaga pre-match. The first 2 minutes is a very good, action-packed & physical encounter with both men getting in some good shots & keeping the pace rather brisk. But following a trip to ringside, the pace slows down a fair bit, even if the impact doesn’t. Some back & forth action follows as the 2 head to ringside once more. They then venture into the crowd which a little disappointingly leads to a double countout at the 7 minute mark. Nice opening, but that was pretty much it for mine. Nothing too bad followed, but it didn’t really further test the 2 big men. While the booking of the finale keeps the 2 looking fairly strong & keeps the door ajar for a continuation to their feud, it was a bit of a letdown to me. Match Rating…5.5

THE SPIRIT SQUAD defeated THE HIGHLANDERS to Retain the World Tag-Team Titles: For the record, it’s (rightly) Kenny & Mikey that defend the titles for The Spirit Squad. The Highlanders get the better of the opening, as numerous tags result in Mikey’s arm being targeted. Kenny doesn’t have much more luck as the Scottish duo continue the swift tagging & double-team maneuvers. The tide turns when Robbie misses a suicide dive & the extra numbers of The Squad lay into him. Kenny & Mikey both follow up with some nice offense, but the crowd sit silent & make the hot tag to Rory seem rather anti-climactic. The Highlanders then hit their springboard reverse suplex, but Kenny breaks up the count. In the resultant mayhem, Johnny interferes with his Johnny-Go-Round kick & Mikey follows up with a face-plant for the pinfall at the 10 minute mark. Actually, this was a little difficult to rate due to the total lack of crowd involvement. But I felt it was a really solid tag match that sufficiently held interest & contained more than enough action with some nice double-teaming. Match Rating…6.5

TRIPLE H & SHAWN MICHAELS defeated THE BIG SHOW, VINCE & SHANE McMAHON in a Handicap Hell In A Cell Match: Correctly not positioned as the main-event of the night, it should be noted that the cell we saw here was a little different & looked a few feet taller than usual. DX literally kick things off with a double low-blow to The Big Show, which allow them to dominate the McMahons. It takes Shane all of 90 seconds to be flung into the cage & get busted open. The same happens to Vince less than a minute later, as TBS is cleverly left reeling in the ring after another double kick to the groin. H finds a screwdriver to make Vince bleed further, but a subsequent pinfall attempt gets interrupted by a finally vertical Big Show. The 3 heels then take turns in isolating & brutalizing DX, with a nice powerbomb type of move busting HBK open & a Shane-O-Mac Van Terminator doing the same to Triple H. A slingshot into the cage makes H bleed further, as TBS hits all his finishers on HBK, only to have Vince lift Michaels up at a 2 count on 2 separate occasions. This allows Triple H to re-enter the fray & a stalemate results with all 5 men down.

An a$$-kiss to Vince is teased, but a miscued splash from TBS takes Vince out & DX follows up by crotching the ECW Champ against the ringpost. A top-rope elbow drop onto a chair-choked Shane removes him from the bout & a Sweet Chin Music hangs TBS up on the top-rope. DX then pop the crowd big time by pulling the big man’s tights down & shoving a bloodied Vince deep into his crack! A Sweet Chin Music & huge sledgehammer shot then knocks out Vince for the pinfall at the 25 minute mark. Entertaining & sufficiently brutal match that wasn’t perfectly structured, but worked rather well around the numbers & personnel involved. Despite the arguable lack of a huge or especially innovative spot, the set-pieces were well booked & performed, with an effective mix of entertainment & brutality. Furthermore, this appeared as if it could be a very good & efficient way to end this long feud appropriately. The HIAC gimmick may have lost that freshness that makes it classic, but it can still be successful when the ingredients are all put together sufficiently as they were here. Match Rating…8

TRISH STRATUS defeated LITA to Win the Women’s Title: A “Thank-You Trish” chant fittingly greets Stratus to the ring & the crowd fuel her energy to open the bout up with a flurry of energetic offense. Lita understandably slows the pace down, but a series of chops by the challenger leads to an intense battle of fists up on the top-rope. After a dangerous (but effective) landing at ringside, the 2 head back up, where Lita initially wins the battle, but misses a moonsault. Trish goes for her Stratusfaction finisher, but gets hurled over the top-rope to another awkward landing on the outside. Lita then increases the heel factor as she uses a decent combination of moves in attempting to finish off Trish. But Stratus digs deep & the comeback sees a chick-kick get a close 2 count.

The finish that follows appears to be a little awkward, but is actually very cleverly booked that way in order to emphasize the crowd-popping end to the bout as Trish locks on the SharpShooter for the submission victory at the 12 minute mark. Terrific stuff that proves how effective a women’s match can be when it’s booked well & performed with a little more risk & gusto. These 2 had no troubles filling out the 12 minute duration, while the intensity & realism of the match were top-notch. I sincerely believe that the lack of crispness at times actually helped the bout out to appear intense & real. I think a definite argument can be made for this being the best WWE Women’s match ever! Match Rating…7.5

RANDY ORTON defeated CARLITO: Not long after the opening lockup, Carlito spits in the face of his opponent to get the bout off to an intense sort of start. Carlito then gains the upper hand with successive controlled aerial moves that remind me a great deal of Chris Jericho. One of the moves opens a cut around Orton’s mouth, but Randy fights back with a dropkick of his own. Orton then locks in a resthold before setting up his patented RKO, but Carlito counters with the back-cracker. Unable to capitalize immediately, the face heads to the top-rope looking for some sort of athletic springboard maneuver. But it’s amazingly countered into an RKO for the pinfall victory to Orton at the 9 minute mark. Ok bout that was disappointingly almost booked as filler. Definitely had its moments with both men looking good at times, but simply decent at others. The lack of time (I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the match was shortened on the night) didn’t really allow us to see if the 2 combine together well. Inconsistent crowd involvement didn’t help either. A definite extra half point for the finishing move. Match Rating…6.5

JOHN CENA defeated EDGE in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match to Win the WWE Championship: Edge predictably gets a favorable reaction in his hometown (that clearly gets him a little emotional), while poor John Cena is once more greeted by a chorus of boos. A rather methodical beginning sees Cena get the better of the offense. Edge works his way into the bout though & is first to bring some weapons into action. He drops Cena back-first through 2 chairs & then dropkicks a ladder into his face! A hip-toss counter onto a ladder gets the challenger back into the bout, although he fails to F-U or superplex the champ through a table. Following what appears to be a botched sunset-flip into a powerbomb spot, Edge makes Cena pay by power-slamming him through a table & then riskily runs up a ladder & hurls himself onto Cena at ringside. A chairshot follows, but Cena counters a conchairto attempt & squashes Edge with the ladder. He then locks on the STF-U while Edge is caught in the ladder, but Edge tapping out means nothing in this type of bout.

Cena remains in control with a ladder shot & a 5 Knuckle Shuffle off of a ladder, but while setting up a table, falls victim to an absolutely wicked chairshot to the head (that may have legitimately knocked him a little loopy)! But Cena fights back promptly & heads for the super-tall ladder in attempting to retrieve the title. Edge recovers however & spears Cena from off of another ladder. Edge’s climb towards the title also gets halted though & Cena capitalizes with a powerbomb & Chairshot. With his hands literally on the title, Cena has the match seemingly stolen from him by an interfering Lita who pushes the ladder over resulting in a huge crash landing through a table at ringside!

It should have been academic from there, but a Lita chairshot inadvertently knocks Cena into the ladder resulting in Edge taking a similar fall through a table at ringside! Edge then unrealistically gets up quickly to duke it out with Cena at the top of the ladder, but his reward is a huge F-U from the top of the ladder through 2 tables set up in the ring!!! A rather solemn-looking Cena then grabs the title to end the match at the 25 minute mark. The TLC gimmick definitely lends itself better to multi-man matches & this match proved it to some extent by not always coming off as realistic & having a few minor duplication issues. But overall, the effort from these 2 was just too great to ignore, as was the entertainment value. While not always successful, kudos should be given to Cena for playing the role of a wrestler taking part in his first TLC match very well. His mixture of getting carried away with weapons & then sense of regret added to the bout in my opinion. In conclusion, this was a terrific main-event & one of the best 5 matches of the year thus far. Match Rating…9

PPV RATING (50/70) = 71

Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2006 version of 'Unforgiven' a 'B+' grade & said that it was ‘very good‘. I think that grade & comment is right on the mark. It should be noted that (from memory) this is only the 2nd WWE ppv of the year to reach this grade thus far & it’s not at all surprising that the other event (No Way Out back in February) was a similarly structured card with a match of the year contender finishing off solid undercard & midcard bouts. Could this event have been improved upon to catapult it to the prestigious ‘A’ grade? Yes, it was possible with some of the earlier matches receiving an extra rating point each, but one couldn’t complain too much about those bouts. Overall, this was a very well-performed & booked ppv event that turned out very entertaining. If you did not get to see it, Unforgiven ’06 is very much recommended by this columnist.


DESSERT – WWE Farewells

It’s quite ironic that this topic became timely in the world of professional wrestling actually, as I had previously thought about doing some sort of related column topic a while back. Back in the day (2002 & 2003), I used to have a semi-regular section called ‘The Oz Perspective’. In that section, I would take something that happened (whether sporting or otherwise) in Australia & somehow relate it to wrestling.

Approximately 4 weeks ago, while watching my Australian Rules Football team play their penultimate match of the year, the team farewelled one of it’s players (fittingly against his former club). You see, it’s not uncommon down here (& in a few other sporting leagues around the world) to simply pick someone to play due to a recent retirement announcement. The player (Jade Rawlings) probably didn’t have the form to be chosen in the side, but due to the lack of a playoff position possibility, the club did not care & played him anyway.

While the ruthless among us may see this as rewarding mediocrity, I thought this (& a few other similar examples from different teams) was terrific. Obviously, the guy was a veteran & not just some Joe Schmo, and I felt this was a fitting, if minor, reward for all of the hard work put in by him for over a decade. You could tell that he was really emotional both before & after the game, but he was extremely professional during it & I don’t think anyone at all was harmed in the process.

With Trish Stratus’ retirement evidently upon us, this topic is clearly topical in professional wrestling right now & I’m not too certain if there is really all that much of a difference between the WWE & any sporting club from around the world. The WWE definitely have had a checkered past in farewelling their wrestlers over the past couple of decades, with Bret Hart’s Montreal Screwjob debacle obviously being the most obvious example. But even excluding that rather extreme occurrence, not too many (for want of a better word) celebrations have been done for a retiring wrestler’s final match in the past. And those that have were more likely to be part of a gimmicked storyline bout where one or both combatants placed their job on the line.

Some may argue that doing such a thing is too risky in professional wrestling, as the wrestler may be double-crossing the WWE & actually planning to go to a competing promotion such as TNA. While there is always that possibility, I don’t think this circumstance is as common as perceived. And even if the outgoing wrestler is honest about a foray to the competition, then what’s to stop the WWE from celebrating their WWE career a little anyway? Well, Vince’s pride & competitiveness is the answer to that, but never mind.

Another argument against having these types of farewells would be the chance of a wrestler reneging on a retirement. This is a fair argument as I would hate to think how many celebrations & retirement matches that Terry Funk & Mick Foley would have had between them! But I’m sure common sense could prevail & the WWE could be wise enough to see the genuine retirements from the year-long breaks.

The Trish Stratus example is more the type of situation that I am pointing out. I really feel that kudos should be given to the WWE here, as she really deserved the respect she was given, not to mention the last record-breaking title reign. And really, did the WWE go over-the-top with anything? I don’t think they did. There wasn’t a 30 minute in-ring promo or some ticker-tape parade. She simply got a short time to speak on Raw & a farewell title match on pay-per-view that she won. That was more than sufficient, yet very much fitting.

I know that some people will argue that nothing of the sort needs to be done upon retirement, as if the wrestler is good enough in the first place, the WWE will acknowledge & reward them with a Hall Of Fame induction later. That’s a fair call, but a match & speech would be nice as well. It just does not happen enough as far as I’m concerned, and events such as Trish Stratus’ final match & the last episode of WCW Nitro are not only moments that are very fitting & respectful, but also very memorable ones as well.


Ok, that’s #194 in the books. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you would like to provide feedback on my Unforgiven Review or my topic about WWE farewells, you are more than welcome to do so by emailing me at DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com. Alternately, 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’, I get a further week closer to continuing my weekly streak for a full year. I still haven’t fully decided what to write about next week, but don’t be too surprised if you see a DVD Review, as I am currently half way through watching one at the moment. 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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