DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – One Night Stand Review + Draft Lottery Predictions
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 12:51 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #234

Welcome one and all to the 234th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

I had a few spare moments the other day & I decided to finally check out the contents of that laptop that I “found” backstage at a WWE event a month or so back & it turns out that it may have belonged to John Cena. I can prove it to as here is a portion of his next hit single…

My Name’s John Cena & I Rhyme Like Clockwork
Just Like DaveyBoy on Wednesdays For Almost 2 Years,
My Name’s John Cena & You May Think That I'm a Jerk
But That Don't Bother Me & Neither Do Your Jeers,
Coz I Put Rears
On Multiple Tiers
Over Multiple Years
While I Cause Fear
And then Change Gear
Coz The Champ Is Here!

Ok, so I was bored the other day & came up with that. And yes, I do know that I don’t necessarily have to bore you with my terrible songwriting skills. But hey, it’s not as if I do it every week. Oh well, maybe I will stick to my day job… Or at least reviewing albums in the LOP Forums. Remember that I am now reviewing 2 albums each from the same group on a weekly basis. So far I have done reviews on the likes of My Chemical Romance, Muse, Rise Against, Razorlight & The Killers. To view these, just click on the following link & scroll down: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=99&page=2.

Actually, there was a reason of sorts that got me on to that little freestyle above. And that is the second line concerning myself. My weekly streak of posting ‘DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu’ on Wednesdays has now reached 20 months. While I must admit that my aim for the streak is 2 years, 20 months was my minimum aim & it’s great to say that I have reached that objective at the very least. Who knows what happens from here on out.

Anyway, enough about me, music & my streak & let’s get on to wrestling. As the column title suggests, today will see me review ‘One Night Stand’ & then predict what I believe should occur during next Monday’s Draft Lottery.

On with the show…..


APPETIZERS – One Night Stand 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: Judgment Day ’07)
60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: No Mercy '06)
65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: WrestleMania 23)
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: Backlash '07)
80+: Make sure that the video or DVD is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]

ROB VAN DAM defeated RANDY ORTON in a Stretcher Match: RVD uses 2 big kicks to gain the early control & keeps the flying feet coming to leave Orton a little woozy. But with the first forearm shot that Randy connects with, Van Dam gets wide-eyed. A kick keeps him in the contest, but he then (intentionally for storyline purposes) miscues his trademark leap to the top-rope & takes a fall to the outside. From then on, Orton controls minutes on end with methodical offense that concentrates on impact to the head. Upon feeling the stretcher though, RVD desperately shoves Randy into the ring-post, which subsequently leads to a spinning leg-drop off the apron on to Orton who is lying on the stretcher.

Back in the ring, Orton counters a rolling thunder with a powerslam, but RVD regains control with a dropkick to the outside. But in following up, Van Dam misses a somersault plancha to the outside & is placed upon the stretcher. But just as he is about to be rolled over the finish line, he jumps off, strikes Orton & capitalizes by rolling Orton over the line for the victory at the 15 minute mark. The aftermath sees Randy attack RVD from behind & then hit him with a huge kick & DDT to leave RVD lying. Solid opener that was well-booked to stretch to its duration. Methodically paced for storyline purposes, the action had enough impact & intensity to make it work sufficiently, even if the selling was a little iffy at times. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the unrealistic swerve ending & had to deduct half a point for that. Match Rating: 7

TOMMY DREAMER, CM PUNK & THE SANDMAN defeated ELIJAH BURKE, MARCUS CORVON & MATT STRYKER in a 6 Man Tag-Team Tables Match: Solid wrestling begins this bout as all 6 men see action in the opening 2 minutes! The match breaks down early after Dreamer & Punk head for the tables. Punk begins to fly everywhere as the faces gain some measure of control, but Burke & Corvon then isolate Punk back in the ring. All 6 men go at it again soon after & after a few moves with good impact, Corvon hits a nice powerbomb variation on Punk. The heels then set up a table, but Sandman saves the day, as Dreamer piledrives Burke & then places him on a table. Punk then superplexes Striker on top of him & through the table resulting in victory for the face team at the 7 minute mark. Not too dissimilar to the filler ECW bout at WM23, but with more action & entertainment value due to the table gimmick. Overall, a good, if short match with Punk & Corvon both impressing. Match Rating: 7

THE HARDYZ defeated CHARLIE HAAS & SHELTON BENJAMIN in a Ladder Match to Retain the World Tag-Team Titles: This match was wrestled under Tornado rules as all 4 men bring a ladder each into the ring at just the 1 minute mark! This leads to a WGTT sandwich as the champs take control. Climbing towards the titles then results in bad news on multiple occasions as the climber(s) hit the deck one way or another. The heels then go for the same ladder set-up that busted open Joey Mercury’s eye 6 months ago, but taste ladders themselves following a counter by The Hardyz. The taller ladders then come into play as both Haas & Benjamin feel its wrath. Haas hits an impressive belly to back suplex from the top-rope, as the challengers isolate Matt while setting up ladders everywhere. This leads to a big spot where Shelton flies from a great height on to Matt through a ladder on the outside. But Haas’ attempt to grab the titles is intercepted by Jeff who hits a huge superplex from the top of a ladder.

Benjamin then interrupts Jeff’s climb to the titles with an interesting springboard move that was basically a botched slip that he turned into pure genius at the time! All 4 men soon climb for the titles simultaneously & while all of them hit the deck, the heel challengers hit harder allowing The Hardyz to retain the titles at the 17 minute mark. Predictably entertaining bout that was initially plagued by messy over-booking. It wasn’t a wise move to bring the 4 ladders into the ring so soon, but these 4 guys simply busted their a$$es for the duration & made the match work. They may be capable of better – maybe even perfection – but this was still very good. Match Rating: 8.5

MARK HENRY defeated KANE in a LumberJack Match: The lumberjacks are Benoit, Venis, Marella, Ballz, Richards, Miz, Thorn, Masters, Nitro, Chavo, Kenny & Carlito. Both men are sent to the outside early, although the lumberjacks prove practically useless twice. The action even spills to the outside at one stage as Henry gains control by driving Kane’s back into the ringpost. The heel then targets the back inside the ring, as a bearhug is eventually locked in for a while. Kane escapes with a choke & sends Henry to the outside, before flying down on him (& 3 other heels) from the top-rope. Back in the ring, Kane hits a chokeslam, but is attacked by Kenny & Chavo. This allows Henry to lock on another bearhug for the stoppage victory at the 9 minute mark. Ho-hum prototypical big man match that seemed overlong even at its short duration. Most of it was multiple bearhugs, while even the involvement of the lumberjacks seemed awkward & useless. Not terrible, but not passable either. Match Rating: 4

BOBBY LASHLEY defeated VINCE McMAHON in a Streetfight to Win the ECW World Title: Vince is not only accompanied to the ring by Shane & Umaga, but the 2 actually wrestle the match with him from the very beginning! Lashley botches the first move of the bout by getting his foot caught on the top-rope when diving over it on to Umaga at ringside. Lashley holds his own against the trio, until Umaga hits the spike & Shane then DDT’s the challenger on a chair. The heels then dominate Lashley with mediocre offense at ringside, but he kicks out at 2 after a Umaga Samoan Drop & a horrible looking spear from Vince! Umaga then goes for a splash, but hits Vince instead & this allows Lashley to dispatch the 2 accomplishes (Shane with a huge release belly to belly suplex to the outside) & lay into Vince with a chair. He then hits his running powerslam on the champ, but Umaga breaks up the count just in time.

The Samoan Bulldozer then splashes Lashley at ringside from the apron, before placing him on an announce table for a Shane-O-Mac top-rope elbow that hits its mark. But by the time the challenger is rolled back into the ring, Vince only gets a 2 count. A running butt-charge by Umaga leads to Shane then missing a Van Terminator & taking out Umaga. A spear each to Shane & Vince then results in the pinfall victory to Lashley at the 13 minute mark. A bout of 2 halves saw an ordinary first half saved by spot after spot during the 2nd half. Everyone but Vince got a chance to impress, although there were a few messy moments as well. Tough to rate as it was a bit of a hotch-potch that had its good & bad points, but it was difficult to ignore its entertainment value. It’s also difficult not to take off half a point for duplication purposes & for some reason, I actually felt a little cheated that this was yet another 3 on 1 bout. Match Rating: 7

CANDICE MICHELLE defeated MELINA in a Pudding Match: This (for want of a better word) match takes place in a kiddie pool near the entrance-way. The pool is filled with pudding (or a mousse-like substance) & after about 5 seconds you can hardly tell the 2 apart. They actually attempt to wrestle which is pretty much a waste of time & Candice wins at the 3 minute mark by submission when she tries to drown Melina! Maria comes out for an interview afterwards & predictably gets thrown into the pudding herself. Terrible & pretty degrading really. It wasn’t too long thankfully, but it was still a waste of time. I’ll give a point to each woman for having to put up with this. Match Rating: 2

EDGE defeated BATISTA in a Steel Cage Match to Retain the World HeavyWeight Title: It seems that by predicting this to be the main-event of the night, I will never learn regarding the bias towards the Raw brand! The first couple of moments see Edge trying to escape the cage any which way, before Batista slows him down with a camel clutch & a few mediocre power moves (a few of which get 2 counts). Batista then attempts to climb the cage, but gets crotched & Edge follows up by spearing the Animal into the cage. On Edge’s next escape attempt, Batista superplexes the champ for a 2 count, but gets caught with a dropkick when attempting to follow up with a top-rope move. The 2 then collide as they simultaneously attempt spears, before the challenger gets 2 counts with a spinning side slam & a slingshot into a rollup.

A busted open Edge then hits a spear from nowhere for a close 2 count, while Batista gets the same result with a subsequent spine-buster. Batista then goes for the Batista Bomb, but Edge uses it to try & escape over the cage. Batista manages to just save him from going over the top, but gets crotched for his troubles. This leads to the finale where Edge hits the floor a couple of seconds before Batista climbs out of the door at the 16 minute mark. Solid cage match, but absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. I feel that there may be fans out there that liked this more than I did, but I just couldn’t get into this & I really don’t feel that the 2 mesh together well. Simply booked without too much imagination, although I can’t rate it too harshly. Match Rating: 7

JOHN CENA defeated THE GREAT KHALI in a Falls Count Anywhere Match to Retain the WWE Championship: Khali dominates the first 3 minutes with strikes (only a big boot & a spin-kick standing out), but then misses a leg-drop, allowing Cena to head to the top-rope where Khali swipes him down to ringside for a 2 count. As expected, the challenger then throws Cena into the crowd where the 2 brawl for a while, before the champ hits Khali with a monitor. However, a subsequent F-U attempt proves useless as Cena then gains a 2 count with a camera boom shot. He attempts another F-U, but is still unable to land it. The 2 then brawl on a crane (part of the set) where Cena rakes the eyes & then hits an impressive F-U from the crane to the floor (although Khali bouncing up lessened it for me) for the pinfall at the 10 minute mark. Mostly ho-hum & there was a lot more wasted time than their bout from last month. I liked the way they played out the story of Cena knowing he had to hit the F-U to win, but apart from that & the actual feat being accomplished, that was pretty much all there was to it. Match Rating: 5.5

PPV RATING (48/80) = 60

Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2007 version of 'One Night Stand’ a 'C+' grade & said that it was ‘worth a watch’. I think that's the perfect grade & comment to be honest, although it only just snuck into that range. I’m sort of glad that it did though as rating it lower would have been because it was predominantly dragged down by the 2 failing bouts. Overall, the entertainment value of the show shouldn’t be ignored, although that was predominantly negated by the duplication of matches from the previous month or so. For that reason, this ppv could actually age well. But the bottom line was that there were 2 stinkers, 4 ok matches that could have been better, a top-notch ladder match, plus a disappointingly ordinary main-event to top it all off. Is the gimmick ppv idea worth persisting with? I’d answer “yes” for now, although it probably will just be a matter of time until it gets too ridiculous just like the similarly structured WCW Uncensored did!


DRAFT LOTTERY PREDICTIONS

The last time I attempted to predict which wrestlers would swap brands during the Draft Lottery, I was a long way off the mark. But then again, who could possibly predict that the WWE Champion & World HeavyWeight Champion were going to switch shows? And this year it will be even trickier as there is a third brand to consider! But anyway, here I am again making a fool of myself & giving a shot to predicting who will go where & who will stay put.

Of course, we have absolutely no idea as to how this year’s lottery will work, but I will make 2 main presumptions. They are (1) choices will somehow be made out of a hat or something similar, and (2) by some strange stroke of luck each brand will gain 5 roster members & lose 5 roster members. My choices will be mainly who I believe should be moving for the betterment of the WWE & not who I feel will be moving due to rumors & the like. For example; I don’t think William Regal should be going anywhere, as I explained in my column last week.

Ok, here goes nothing…

MAIN – Raw Drafts...

TEDDY LONG: Rumors suggest this move will not happen, but I figure that this angle involving Long, Krystal & Vicki Guerrero on SmackDown has to be leading somewhere & now is as good as any time to pull the pin on the storyline. Teddy has been the GM of SmackDown for longer than Raw has been without a GM, so it all seems a nice fit & could even give his character a freshen up by (for want of a better word) feuding with Jonathan Coachman. Meanwhile, Vicki (with assistance from Krystal) takes over SmackDown & causes some continual controversy by reverting back to her heel character.

MICHELLE McCOOL: I initially preferred Jillian Hall moving over to Raw & that may still be what is best for the Monday night brand depending on who emerges as Women’s Champion from the eventual title bout between Melina & Candice Michelle. But my guess is that Melina will always be around the mark & that McCool would be a decent challenger to her throne, even if it isn’t for a few months yet. Personally, she hasn’t won me over in the ring as yet, but she isn’t terrible & appears to be the female who is getting a push of late.

KING BOOKER: This was a tough slot to fill, but I felt as if a SmackDown heel had to move over to Raw in order to eventually challenge John Cena. While Booker is injured at the moment (& I am fairly certain that at least one injured wrestler will make a move), he isn’t all that far from returning & feel that a move back to Monday nights where he is yet to showcase his royal gimmick on a full-time basis may give that character an extra lease of life & prolong it for at least another year. I also don’t foresee any problem with Queen Sharmell moving across also as she isn’t technically a roster member for mine.

MARCUS CORVON: This is actually a move I don’t really want to make as I believe Corvon may be best left on ECW for his methodical progression. But I believe a heel had to move from ECW to Raw for balance. Snitsky is probably the most obvious choice but he is being groomed to challenge Lashley & what’s the point of moving him straight back to Raw anyway. So that leaves Corvon, Thorn & Burke & I think Corvon best fits the mould of someone that will settle in decently on the Raw midcard with the potential to challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship here & there. He will probably have to be given a decent push upon this reassignment & I hope he is ready for that.

C.M PUNK: This will leave a fairly big hole on the ECW brand, but I can hopefully make up for that in the next section. Punk may be best left on ECW as he has a niche-like fan-base, but he has shown on enough occasions that he has sufficient crowd support to suggest to me that he will make the transition to the flagship brand more than sufficiently. While there is always the chance of getting lost in the mix on Raw, it’s really no different to playing third fiddle on ECW behind Lashley & RVD. Plus, I’m unsure if the WWE are willing to push him right to the top this soon anyway.

OTHERS I CONSIDERED: Apart from the aforementioned Snitsky & Jillian who are also a chance to make the move to Raw, I did consider a few others. I have already spoken on William Regal moving from SmackDown, while I feel that the match-ups & storylines are still there to keep The Undertaker & Mr.Kennedy on Friday nights. Chris Benoit will most likely end up on Raw, but I have preferred to send him elsewhere, while Vince McMahon’s want to keep The Hardyz apart means that Matt Hardy won’t come across. Finally, Rey Mysterio is still best used to promote SmackDown for mine.


DESSERT – ECW Drafts...

CHRIS BENOIT: From all the rumors & reports buzzing around the world wide web, it seems a lock that Benoit will be on Raw come next week. And I can see why this is the case as the main-event face depth below John Cena is a little thin on Monday night’s at present. But if the WWE were in any way serious about the ECW brand, Benoit has to go there in order to win over the in-ring wrestling fans for the brand. His ECW history & intense wrestling style is a perfect fit for the brand, and while I have stated in the past that SmackDown has needed him too much for him to leave, Matt Hardy has stepped up so much over the past year, that it now makes it possible for Benoit to move on.

THE BOOGEYMAN: Old Man Boogey’s lack of in-ring skills annoys the crap out of me on the wrestling oriented SmackDown brand, while his character would fit in better on the American Sci-Fi network. I also thought about using a draft pick on Little Boogey, but who is seriously going to tell the little worm-eater that he can’t follow his daddy across to Tuesday nights?

CHRIS MASTERS: The jury is still out on Masters for mine… He is young enough to persist with, but just doesn’t do a great deal for me to be honest. At worst though, he is good enhancement talent & if moved to the weaker ECW brand, his stock may rise to a midcard sort of level. Furthermore, he would most likely be a good fit in the New Breed stable & this would only help his career as some of his in-ring deficiencies can be hidden in amongst tag-team matches against various opponents.

JOHNNY NITRO: Nitro is simply way too good to be used as sparingly as he currently is on the Raw brand. Between him & Shelton Benjamin, one of them should end up on ECW & the other on SmackDown. I have decided to put Nitro here as he was the more recent of the 2 to be on SmackDown, as well as having the edgier character that could be a better fit for the ECW brand. A feud with Benoit could be the second coming of the Benoit vs MVP feud, while Nitro could easily play the anti-establishment heel against what is left of the ECW Originals, whether part of the New Breed stable or not.

SUPER CRAZY: I almost blindly sent Crazy to SmackDown because that’s where cruiserweights belong! But then I realized; What’s the point? He would hardly be seen there anyway as that’s the way the division is currently treated. And when you think about it, ECW is the much better fit for Super Crazy due to his history with the promotion & his death-defying wrestling style that mixes high-flying with pace & impact. Furthermore, with the recent departures of RVD & Sabu, I wouldn’t be against giving Crazy their spot, despite it being a huge jump up the card from his current status.

OTHERS I CONSIDERED: Excluding Little Boogeyman (as per the comment above), either Shelton Benjamin or Kenny Dykstra could be moved to ECW if the WWE had other plans for Johnny Nitro. If the reports of a tag-team division are true, moving Paul London & Brian Kendrick would have to be considered as it would provide a change of scenery for them. King Booker, William Regal & Mark Henry would be chances to move across from SmackDown presuming Benoit goes to Raw, while no-one seems to know what the WWE are doing with Randy Orton & his punishment right now. If they wanted a filler pick here, someone like Jamie Noble may get more of a look-in on ECW.


COFFEE – SmackDown Drafts...

KELLY, BROOKE & LAYLA: This sounds strange coming from me, as I have argued for SmackDown getting more main-event depth in past draft lotteries. But realistically, presuming The Undertaker & Rey Mysterio do not switch brands, their roster is sufficient at present & it is ECW that needs topping up. Moving these 3 across (& they can be drafted separately if wanted) to Friday nights pretty much cancels off The Boogeyman move as they pretty much waste the same amount of time. Plus, a feud of sorts with the singing Jillian Hall pretty much writes itself which may actually get at least one of these 3 wrestling.

UMAGA: Umaga has pretty much done the rounds of a thin face roster on Raw, so it is probably best for freshness sake if he moves on. Having already battled Lashley enough times, ECW is not really an option, while there are a sufficient amount of faces for him to battle on Friday nights. While the Kane feud has already been done (last year), feuds with Batista, Rey Mysterio & The Undertaker could work well enough, while even Matt Hardy could get some sort of main-event credibility out of working with the Samoan Bulldozer.

SHELTON BENJAMIN: There is always one tag-team broken up during the draft lottery and with Cade & Murdoch’s return to the title scene, it seems that the WGTT may be the most obvious to split up. Plus, Shelton is simply too talented to be used as sparingly as he currently is. Whether the lack of a push is his or the WWE’s fault, the past should be buried & a fresh start on Friday night’s should be seen as a way to finally consolidate Benjamin in the midcard. A singles feud with Matt Hardy would be tremendous, while a part-time teaming with MVP could also work to some extent.

OTHERS I CONSIDERED: I have already spoken about the likes of Super Crazy, Randy Orton, Johnny Nitro, Chris Masters & Kenny Dykstra who could all be potential candidates for a move to SmackDown. Other than that, I wouldn’t shake up their roster too much, with only a tag-team such as Cryme Tyme possibly being considered for a move if one of the SmackDown teams is broken up elsewhere on Draft Lottery night.


Ok, that’s #234 in the books. I hope you all enjoyed it. Whether it is regarding my ‘One Night Stand’ review or my predictions/wants for the upcoming draft lottery, if you would like to provide feedback, you may do so by emailing me on 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=6. I should be able to reply to all feedback, although it may be best if you don’t all bombard me with potential moves for every single WWE employee… LOL! Maybe just email me if you think a specific wrestler or two should or shouldn’t switch brands. For example; I will not be a happy camper if both Chris Benoit & Matt Hardy leave SmackDown!

I have a number of potential topics to write about next Wednesday in ‘The Wrestling Menu’, but the specifics of the column will depend on how much I write about the Draft Lottery results, which will get some sort of run. Elsewhere, I still have to discuss the WWE’s tri-branding of pay-per-views, while I also caught the ‘Heat’ television show (yes, it still exists) last week & something caught my eye. 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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