DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu #225 – WrestleMania 23 & Raw Reviews + Results
    Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at 5:33 AM EST




    THE WRESTLING MENU #225

    Welcome one and all to the 225th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

    Well, WrestleMania has come & gone for another year. It's always great to be a wrestling fan around this time of the calendar. Let's just hope that the WWE can keep up the momentum for the next few months. I have actually decided against doing a "What's ahead for the WWE brands" type of column today & may instead leave that for next week.

    Ummm, I don't think I have much more to say to be honest, so lets' get on with the "All Grown Up" show.....


    APPETIZERS - Telegraphing Results

    Over the past couple of years, I have been fairly up & down with my PPV Predictions. I have my good patches & then go through some bad patches. I went 6-2 with my WrestleMania 23 predictions & am very pleased with that result to be honest. I don't think that WrestleMania is ever easy to predict & the WWE almost pride themselves on throwing in a few curve balls every now & then. So a 75% strike rate is just fine by me.

    The funny thing is that I am sort of glad that the ECW Originals pulled off the surprise of the card in their 8 man tag match! Why? Because if they didn't, I would literally be kicking myself for not running the card so to speak. A Melina win was sooo obvious in retrospect & telegraphed over the past fortnight, that I really have no idea why I predicted an Ashley title victory.

    When you think about it, Ashley made the winning pin in at least 2 multi-woman tag-team matches over the past couple of weeks. This made her look strong & put all the focus on her. The aim of that was not only to sell copies of Playboy, but to make it look like that she was practically the favorite going into the title match. While Melina was not made to look all that weak in any of the matches, she definitely wasn't made to look strong either. If ever I have seen a tell-tale sign that Melina was winning her WrestleMania bout, all those facts are it. What drugs I was on when I predicted an Ashley win are unknown to me!

    Another great example of a telegraphed result was the Money In The Bank Ladder Match. However, I feel that this was a little more ok with the WWE trying to get away with this because there were 8 men involved in the bout. I don't care what the situation is, there has to be some sort of unpredictably naturally built in when 8 men are involved in one match. But when you look at the way that Ken Kennedy was almost being built down with close competitive singles losses on SmackDown of late, with the occasional tag-team win with Randy Orton, it was almost obvious that he was going to leave Detroit victorious.

    Of course, there are times when we all miss the signs no matter how obvious they are. I think my predicting of an Ashley win is evidence of that. But there are times when we completely ignore the signs as well. For example, I paid no attention to the results of the matches involving the ECW Originals & the New Breed over the past couple of weeks. I saw the various bouts & simply enjoyed the varying quality of them. The results meant nothing to me. Why? Because I was already 90% certain that the New Breed would win come WrestleMania. Nice swerve by the WWE there, although I am unsure it really means anything.

    The Chris Benoit vs MVP bout is another interesting case in point. I have heard that many people believed it was obvious that MVP was being built up to win the title on April-1. I disagree with that. In fact, I think it was sort of the opposite. Yes, he was being built up, but he was being built up to give the impression that he was on Benoit's level. If anything, MVP was being built to look stronger, as Benoit's match booking was rather ho-hum over the past 2-3 weeks. Hence why I correctly predicted a Benoit win this past Sunday.

    But telling you all what a predicting genius I am after the fact isn't what the point of this topic is. The point is one that I have been preaching ever since I started writing columns for this website back in 2002. That point is that unpredictability is an under-rated & important aspect of professional wrestling. One of the factors that made both the WWE Championship & World HeavyWeight Title Matches so effective was their unpredictability towards the end. Before this event, I had seen the predictions of the winner in each of these bouts rather evenly split. Come the night, that only increases anticipation. Come the latter stages of the matches in question, that only increases the excitement.

    So maybe my greater concluding point here is that while the WWE do have to build up contenders to look strong in the weeks leading up to a pay-per-view event, I hope they scale that back down a little in the future so as not to make some results a little too predictable. In my opinion, this will actually improve ppv buyrates due to the anticipation factor & match quality come the night due to the unpredictability & excitement factor.


    MAIN - WrestleMania 23 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 '07)
    55-59: Average. [C] (EG: Cyber Sunday '06)
    60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: No Mercy '06)
    65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: New Years Revolution '07)
    70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: Royal Rumble '07)
    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+]

    KEN KENNEDY defeated CM PUNK, FINLAY, KING BOOKER, MATT HARDY, JEFF HARDY, RANDY ORTON & EDGE in a 'Money In The Bank' Ladder Match: Well... there went my hope of having this match placed on the second half of the card! Almost everyone heads to the outside right from the beginning & in a nice touch, it is a set-up for a spot where Finlay (of all people) comes off the top-rope on to 5 opponents! Edge attempts to sneak a quick win, but Matt spoils his party. There is no point in me going through every move from then on as I would be here all day. But at the 9 minute mark, Jeff performs his much-anticipated huge spot by coming off a gigantic ladder inside the ring & performing a leg-drop on Edge who was laid out on a wedged ladder on the outside! The ladder snapped clean in half & Edge was stretchered to the back while (I think) Jeff just lay there for the remainder of the bout!

    A long sequence of finishers from Orton, Booker, Matt & Finlay results in Hornswoggle almost grabbing the briefcase, but Kennedy hits the Li'l Ba$tard with a crowd-pleasing Green Bay Plunge from atop a ladder! Not long later, it is Punk & Kennedy left in the ring and a battle on top of the ladder between the 2 ensues. It goes back & forth for a while, before Kennedy, a little anti-climactically, pulls down the briefcase for the victory at the 19 minute mark. I would have preferred the match to have lasted an extra 5 minutes & include a more exciting finishing sequence, but that's not to say there wasn't much excitement throughout the bout, as there was. The huge spot thankfully occurred, while the sequence of finishers was extremely entertaining. I'm unsure that anyone was really pushed from this bout, and if anyone, it was Finlay! Bottom line: This was entertaining no matter how you look at it. Match Rating...8.5

    THE GREAT KHALI defeated KANE: Khali well & truly gets the better of the opening strength contests as he doesn't leave his feet during the first few minutes. He does get locked up in the ropes though & this allows Kane to get his hook from under the ring. He uses the chain connected to it for a low blow on the Indian & follows up with a huge & genuinely impressive body-slam that brought the crowd to life. A battle of chokes not long later is won by Khali, who then hits his double-handed choke-slam for the victory at just under the 6 minute mark. Khali chokes out Kane with the chain for a little while afterwards. Fairly standard big man match, but thankfully there was nothing too bad & it never really stalled momentum-wise, even if was all at a predictably slowish pace. Just the appearance of the hook & the big body-slam had the crowd sufficiently involved. Considering the combatants, this was decently booked & performed. Passable. Match Rating...5

    CHRIS BENOIT defeated MVP to Retain the United States Title: Excellently booked beginning to the bout with Benoit making all the running, but an expectant MVP playing defense with some genuinely good counters. That ends at the 4 minute mark when MVP nicely counters a superplex attempt with an arm-wringer on the top-rope. The challenger then targets the arm from here on and, after taking 4 German Suplezes, hits a superplex himself. Benoit fails to put on the crossface due to his injured arm, but follows up with a broken series of 5 more German Suplexes. A top-rope swan-dive headbutt later & it's all over at the 10 minute mark.

    This bout reminded me so much of Benoit vs JBL from WrestleMania 22... It could have been a carbon copy. The finish was slightly disappointing, anti-climactic & premature, following what was a really well put together bout that showcased both men's skills well. It just required that kick-up of another gear that an extra few minutes may have allowed it (then again, I had a feeling the bout would end when it did as I heard the referee call out how many minutes to go). I think this would have finally won over the crowd that was rather inconsistently involved throughout. Solid & probably better than I expected. Match Rating...7.5

    THE UNDERTAKER defeated BATISTA to Win the World HeavyWeight Title: Our main-event of the night was up next, but don't get me started on the placement of this bout! Batista enters to a mixed reaction, while 'Taker subjects us to his Gregorian chants & druids as is customary at this time of year. Batista nicely catches us all off guard to begin the bout with a high-impact spear. He then continues to have the better of the offense with good aggressive intensity, including a good top-rope shoulder-block! 'Taker fights back with fists & Old School that clearly define where the crowd support lies, as the dead man takes over & dominates with his apron leg-drop & his impressive over the top-rope body-block. While at ringside though, the champ fights back in amongst the announce tables & guard-rails. He then power-slams 'Taker through one of the desks, before getting a 2 count back in the ring. Batista then gets the same result with a belly to belly, while the phenom also gets a 2 count with a Last Ride powerbomb.

    Yet another 2 count results from a "Taker chokeslam, but then a tombstone attempt is countered into a spear & the Batista Bomb follows! But the crowd goes crazy as 'Taker kicks out at 2, and after some decent set-up action, The Undertaker finally hits his tombstone piledriver at the 16 minute mark for the title victory. That was a very involving & extended finishing sequence that couldn't fail to have pleased 99% of wrestling fans. It may have meant more if the bout had lasted an extra 5 minutes, but the positive flipside of that was that Batista looked just fine from a fitness perspective throughout the match. In fact, his attitude & actions really added to the psychology of this bout & he should gain praise for that. If anything, this match needed an extra big spot & probably some blood emanating from that spot just to add a nice touch. Excellent match that was main-event worthy. Match Rating...8.5

    ROB VAN DAM, TOMMY DREAMER, SABU & THE SANDMAN defeated ELIJAH BURKE, KEVIN THORN, MARCUS CORVON & MATT STRIKER in an 8 Man Tag-Team Match: Sabu & Striker begin at a decent pace & the tags come thick & fast with 7 of the 8 men legally involved within the first 3 minutes! Dreamer is the one that plays the face in peril & it isn't until he is able to hit a double neck-breaker before he finally tags in RVD (the 8th man) at the 5 minute mark. The match totally breaks down from there with a sequence that has one man after another taking an opponent to the outside. In the ensuing mayhem, RVD hits his 5 star frog splash for the upset victory at the 7 minute mark! Pretty much filler that was booked by the numbers & without imagination. There was disappointingly no hardcore spots & only one high-flying move of any note (performed by Sabu). No-one really came out looking strong from the bout either. Nothing too bad though & kept at a decent pace. Passable. Match Rating...5.5

    BOBBY LASHLEY (with Donald Trump) defeated UMAGA (with Vince McMahon) in a Representative Hair vs Hair Match: Following some decent back & forth action that contains some good high-impact moves (and Armando being removed to the back after running foul of Lashley), both men impress with missed charges & take big bumps to the outside. Stone Cold then makes his presence felt laying down the law to both men, before Umaga consolidates his control of the bout with a big Samoan Drop & modified face-plant. But heading to the top-rope wasn't wise as Lashley throws him off. A big clothesline then results in both men being down for a long while, but Austin stops the count at 9. Shane McMahon then interferes, allowing Umaga to hit Stone Cold with his spike & a 2 on 1 beating to occur. Shane-O-Mac then hits the Van Terminator (with garbage can) on Lashley before revealing a referee's shirt! Umaga then hits a top-rope splash, but a returning Austin breaks up the count.

    In the ensuing mayhem, Trump clotheslines Vince & even lays in with some weak-looking punches, while Stone Cold stuns Umaga, leading to a Lashley spear & the victorious pinfall at the 13 minute mark. Some entertaining shenanigans take place afterwards which eventually results in Trump & Lashley shaving Vince bald. In all, the aftermath lasted 10 minutes, and yes, Austin only left after stunning Trump! The match itself was pretty good, if not standing out in any way. Both men showed some athleticism in amongst the predictable brawling that took place. I suppose the bout was never going to have the chance to stand out with all the extracurricular activities clearly being the focus. It wasn't anything too bad wrestling-wise though & the overall entertainment package definitely existed as expected. Crowd-wise, I think the WWE may be disappointed that Lashley was booed so much, especially in the early stages of the match. Match Rating...7.5

    MELINA defeated ASHLEY MASSARO to Retain the Women's Title: Ashley is the aggressor to begin the bout, but Melina fights back with a whirley-bird & then an interesting looking submission hold. Ashley returns fire with a head-scissors, but in the ensuing rollup-fest, Melina gains the ascendancy & scores the decisive pinfall at a little over 3 minutes. The LumberJills have a little all-in afterwards, but even that only lasted about 30 seconds. This may as well have been a pillow-fight as there were only about 3 effective moves in the very short duration. And surely, when you have a LumberJill Match, the ladies on the outside should come into play more than once! This hardly even succeeded as filler to be honest. Match Rating...3

    JOHN CENA defeated SHAWN MICHAELS to Retain the WWE Championship: Cena heads to the ring in a product placement, as the first few minutes of this bout has HBK playing mind games successfully with an off-guard champ. Cena realizes he has to lift his intensity & does so with a huge clothesline & shoulder-block that HBK sells like no other. Michaels then fights back with a clothesline to the outside & then scores with a nice springboard moonsault onto the announce desk! A corner sequence soon after results in a clubbing blow from HBK to Cena's knee, and this predictably results in the challenger targetting the champ's knee for many minutes on end as the pace slows. A missed charge to the corner by HBK results in him hitting his head on the ringpost & being busted open. This opens the door for Cena to gain some momentum & hit a number of his standard moves, before the sequence comes to an end with a missed desperation superkick that lays out the referee.

    HBK then counters an F-U attempt with a messy DDT, before heading to the outside & piledriving Cena on the steel steps & busting him open! Another ref comes out, but only to conduct a 2 count. HBK follows up with a top-rope elbow-drop, but Cena halts a Sweet Chin Music attempt with a huge clothesline. Some nice back & forth action follows with Cena even scoring with an F-U, that HBK kicks out of at 2. Cena then goes for an F-U off the top-rope, but HBK resists & knocks the champ down. An excellent & innovative sequence follows with Cena first rolling through on a top-rope cross body block attempt from HBK, followed by multiple teases of finishers & then HBK gaining a close 2 count with a nice roll-up. Cena hooks on the STF-U soon after, but HBK reaches the ropes & quickly follows up with Sweet Chin Music for an eventual 2 count. The 2 men are then out for a 9 count before Cena finally hooks on the STF-U once again for the submission victory at the 28 minute mark.

    Successful main-event with good effort from both men & 2 or 3 excellent sequences combining well with a few more good individual moves. While I did have some concerns with the booking, I did like the way that the result was in question right up until the very end. Being critical, the pace was sometimes iffy, as was the dead-end time-wasting of HBK targetting Cena's knee early on. I also thought that some of the false finishes towards the end were clearly false (especially when compared to the Batista vs Undertaker match), while the 'leaning on each other' finish may have been a little too much. But that's being picky as this was still very very good & could easily be ranked by many as the match of the night, as well as a match of the year contender. Match Rating...8.5

    PPV RATING (54/80) = 68

    Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2007 & 23rd version of WrestleMania a 'B' grade & said that it was a ‘Good event that was worth the money.‘ I can't complain with that conclusion I suppose, although in all honesty, it probably should have been pushed up to the next level had it not been for the horrendous Women's Title Match that was very short anyway. Without that shocker, the event would have scored a 73 on my ratings system & that may be more indicative when all is said & done.

    While none of them were what I would term classics (or nearing perfect), 3 excellent matches made this card stand out from the past couple of WrestleManias. The Ladder Match opener & both World Title Matches were terrific & kudos should go to all 12 men involved in them. It was good to see 2 of the other bouts end up solid, while the remaining 3 matches were nothing but filler & treated fairly poorly, which was a little disappointing. Overall, a very satisfying event that I would recommend to anyone that missed out on watching it. Oh & I suppose I should answer the question that is bound to come to me in bucket-loads; What was the match of the night? It is a really tough decision as both title matches (which were slightly superior to MITB) had their positives & negatives. But I suppose when all was said & done, the Undertaker vs Batista match had less things wrong with it than the main-event. So I'll go with The Undertaker vs Batista as the match of the night.


    DESSERT - Raw Review

    As most of you will know, I only do Raw reviews on occasions. Chad Matthews does a great job in reviewing the WWE's live Monday night show for this website, so I don't see the need for duplication as such. I must say though that I enjoy reviewing the Raw episode following WrestleMania. I haven't done so each & every year, but that has more been due to opportunity than anything else. As I have mentioned on occasions, Raw actually airs Wednesday afternoon in Australia, so unless I have a day off work (as I do today), then timeliness will always be an issue for my column.

    But, as I was saying, I enjoy viewing the Raw episode following WrestleMania. This has traditionally been one of the biggest episodes of Raw for the year & it's not just because of what happened the night before. The WWE are well-known for also starting many new storylines immediately after the biggest pay-per-view of the year, while there has also been a huge surprise or 2 in this episode in the past. Over the past couple of years, I can't say the WWE have been too adventurous the night after WrestleMania, but it is possible here with quality wrestlers such as Flair, Carlito & Nitro left off the show, as well as the likes of Foley & Austin hanging around at the moment.

    As per usual with my television show reviews, they will be in point form & nowhere near as detailed as my PPV Reviews. Don't be surprised if I throw in some sarcasm as well...

    - John Cena deservedly opens up the show & it's a strange sort of mixed reaction that he receives. HBK interrupts almost immediately (that's one way to keep the promo moving) & basically states that he is still the "better man" despite the loss. They tease an impromptu match which always seems to be a cue for Coach to enter the fray & he books a 10 team interbrand battle royal for HBK & Cena's World Tag-Team Titles. Ok opening segment that stated where HBK's mind was at moving forward & set up what should be an interesting battle royal. I can't say it was too entertaining of a segment, but it moved along well enough.

    - The battle royal was initially a little confusing as not all teams were introduced & it took a while to realize who was involved. It was good to see Deuce & Domino take part & they were probably the most impressive of all the teams. Apart from that, there was nothing much to report. It came down to the champs against King Booker & Finlay, with Cena being double-teamed for the most part. Finlay accidentally clotheslines Booker though & Sweet Chin Music eliminates the Irishman soon after. Decently entertaining as most battle royals are, but nothing special.

    - To answer my internal question as to why some tag-teams were not involved in the battle-royal, Coach reappears & announces a 2nd 10 team interbrand battle royal for the titles. I think this caught us all off guard a little & that's probably a good thing. Once more, the beginning of the bout is a little all over the place & we then inexplicably get another commercial break (our 3rd of the show already) before coming back to see only 6 teams remaining.

    HBK superkicks Nitro (who was teaming with Miz of all people) to elimination & then in a swerve, throws Cena over the top-rope as he announces that there is only one gold that is on his mind! Kendrick & Chavo eliminate each other leaving The Hardyz & Cade/Murdoch remaining. Suggesting this was a good booking decision, the crowd actually get louder & cheer home The Hardyz who eventually win the titles to a loud pop. This battle royal was a little better than the first in that it was a tad longer & had better crowd involvement, while also furthering the HBK/Cena feud. The crowd support for The Hardyz cannot be under-estimated here!

    - The obligatory WrestleMania highlights package is up next & it's great viewing as per usual. Needless to say, the WWE are tremendous putting these together & consistently make an event seem better than it actually was (even if it was very good in the first place).

    - A decent backstage segment sees a hidden Vince McMahon being led to the ring by Coach. He eventually appears with a hat that makes him look almost gangster'ish. As per usual, Vince waffles on for far too long as he blames Stone Cold for Umaga's loss & books a main-event rematch between Umaga & Lashley for the ECW Title. Vince states that no-one will see his bald head, which brings out a disagreeing Lashley who promptly removes Vince's hat. Some entertaining hijinks follow with Vince trying to cover his head with anything (including Lillian's dress). The ending made the segment worthwhile after Vince's long diatribe that should have been encompassed into the backstage segment previously.

    - Flair & Carlito vs Haas & Benjamin is our 3rd match of the night & that explains why neither team were involved in the opening 2 battle royals. I was beginning to think that the faces may have been punished for their dissension for being left off the WrestleMania card! The WGTT have the better of Carlito for the majority of the bout before the hot tag to Flair who promptly scores the submission victory with a figure 4 leglock. Short bout that was ok, but still came off as filler. Carlito's eventual heel turn may bomb if the WWE don't do a more effective job of building up his face momentum!

    - A nice Hall Of Fame highlights package leads into Timbaland flogging his new album for a couple of minutes. Todd Grisham kept referring to him as a producer & not an artist which had me chuckling a little. This all precedes Melina coming down to the ring & bragging about her title win. A photo opportunity is then interrupted by Mickie James who hits the champion with a spike DDT & clearly lays out what the next Women's Title feud will be. It's the correct feud to go with too, but I hope the 2 have worked on meshing better together in the ring than what they did a month or 2 back.

    - The Great Khali squashes Super Crazy in a short match next. This is not what I meant by an "effective" squash when writing about the topic a couple of weeks back. Does the WWE even know what they have planned for Khali? Until there is a clear direction, everything involving him is simply a waste of time in my mind!

    - A ho-hum Hardyz backstage interview is used as a nice lead-in to an Edge promo where he throws his hat into the WWE Championship contention ring following Michaels & Orton doing the same earlier on in the night. Edge's promos are almost starting to get a face reaction of late, but he is getting so expert in delivering them that he knows just when to turn it heelish. This particular promo was nothing special at all, yet seemed to effectively gain the crowd's attention & get them involved. Thus, it almost begs to be concluded that it was successful.

    - Our main-event is a handicap match pitting Lashley against Umaga & Armando. The heels totally dominate the bout to minimal crowd involvement or reaction. Lashley belatedly makes the big comeback & finally pins Armando with his running powerslam. Disappointing main-event that was not a shadow on their WrestleMania match. It must be noted that it didn't help viewers at home that Jim Ross was MIA due to his voice not lasting the distance.

    It was ok to give these 2 up & comers a high-profile spot at WrestleMania, but deciding to have them back up the next night was a mistake. The one-sided booking of the bout pretty much drove the final nails in the coffin & meant that (both live & at home) viewers left the show on a negative, which is not what you want to do when trying to capitalize on the momentum gained by a successful WrestleMania just 24 hours earlier.


    Overall, this was a totally off-kilter episode of Raw that was made to look worse than what it probably was due to a meandering & disappointing main-event. The battle royal at the beginning of the show caught me off guard in a good way, as did the second one. But in retrospect, it seems clear to me that the original one should have been a quick filler that set up a second more star-filled main-event battle royal. That way, we could have had some interesting HBK & Cena interaction throughout the night & a feel-good crowd-involving moment at the end where The Hardyz win their 6th World Tag-team Titles. Because what actually eventuated was a show that went totally downhill in the last 80 minutes following the title win. There wasn't anything too horrible, but there was nothing earth-shattering either. And I think it's fair to state that the days of some huge occurrence on the Raw following WrestleMania is now a thing of the past! I shall not expect it again & be pleasantly surprised if it does occur.


    Okely dokely, that's it for edition #225 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope you enjoyed the predominantly WrestleMania-based edition that I presented today. If there is anything amongst my 2 reviews and/or topic regarding telegraphing match results that you wish to discuss, please don't hesitate to send me your thoughts via e-mail. You know that I will reply to all feedback. 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&page=5.

    Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I am most likely to devote the entire column to the road ahead for each of the 3 WWE brands. In other words, I will take a look at the next 2-3 months worth of programming for Raw, SmackDown & ECW. This means that I have every plan to stretch my weekly posting streak beyond 18 months next Wednesday April-11. 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. 2002-2007

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    ***DIRECT LINK*** Vince & Stephanie McMahon Playing with the NEW BABY!!

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