DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu - Referees, Face vs Face + GABash Predictions
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 2:09 AM EST
THE WRESTLING MENU #239
Welcome one and all to the 239th 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 I said that I was going to attempt to make my column a fair bit shorter... I pretty much failed for the umpteenth time. This week, I am not going to promise anything. Apologies for those that like my lengthier editions, but as a consequence of being very busy at work, what I have done today is chosen 2 topics today that really don't require detailed insight... Just my opinion. And they are actually interesting opinions in truth as I get the feeling that I could be in the minority with my thinking in both cases... I definitely know that I am with one of them.
Along with those 2 topics, I am serving up my predictions for 'The Great American Bash' pay-per-view. A week or so back, I genuinely thought about giving this event a miss!!! If so, that would have been the first time for over 4 years! But fortunately, I will be purchasing the show as the WWE have thankfully put just enough interest throughout the card to make me care.
On with the possibly shorter show.....
APPETIZERS - Face vs Face
How do I know that I am in the minority with my thoughts on the subject of face vs face matches? Well, it's due to the indirect feedback that I have received throughout the year when making little comments here & there within my column. In fact, I would hazard to guess that no more than 10% of WWE fans out there reading this will agree with what I am about to state: We have had too many face vs face match-ups this year already & the year is only just over half-way completed.
Now, at this stage, there may be a few more than 10% of you that agree with me as the majority of fans will realize that a wrestling match will be easier to make into a quality bout when there is a heel & a face (or a heel team & a face team in multi-man matches). However, as soon as it comes time to discuss specific matches that are of the face vs face variety, there is practically no agreement. These bouts are just too good to refuse. Obviously, not only for the fans, but also for the WWE by what we have seen this year.
First there was The Undertaker vs Batista feud. Then there was the John Cena vs Shawn Michals feud. And now there is John Cena vs Bobby Lashley. It's too much folks. And that's not yet mentioning the fact that 2 of those feuds were going on at the same time & had their payoff on the same card which I really was against! I didn't mind the Batista & 'Taker feud leading from The Royal Rumble through to WrestleMania 23. Sure, I would have preferred if Batista turned heel at the time, but The Undertaker's transcending of everything when it comes to WrestleMania gave it a defense, even following the big dance.
But, as I have stated against the tide a few times before, I was against Cena vs Michaels at WrestleMania and that is despite knowing it would be a great quality match before it occurred & rating it a great quality match after it went down. It probably had a fair bit to do with the other all-face feud, but I also felt that the HBK-Cena feud was awkward from beginning to finish. It eventually did win us over, but it was only when an absolute crap-load of time & resources went into setting it all up. And let's not even mention that it was booked as the main-event of WrestleMania when I don't believe it should have.
And now we have Cena vs Lashley. I am admittedly very interested in this match-up & it may well still be a good wrestling bout. But that has nothing to do with the fact that it is face vs face & more to do with how well I think they can mesh with each other in the ring. It would be no different if one was a face & the other a heel. But if the latter scenario was true, I would bet some money that the dynamic between the 2 would be better & the storyline between the 2 would be superior. Furthermore, it may even play a part on the night in terms of intensity & action!
Following the past 6 months, it simply won't be as special to view a face vs face match anymore for me. One of my most favorite matches in wrestling history was Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6. I was absolutely stupefied as to how these 2 huge fan favorites were clashing in the biggest match of the year. And while some of that was obviously due to my young age at the time & that feeling will still occur with kids these days, it won't be as strong as practically the same thing occurred just a few months ago. How can Cena vs Lashley have a super-match feeling if Cena vs Michales took place just 3 months ago?
I know, I know... Wrestling has changed. I know, I know... Face vs face matches make WWE seem more realistic (which I have always been in favor of in the past). But I just feel that while there probably was the likelihood & opportunity to have one big face vs face ppv match per year in this day & age, WWE have gone over the top with the amount of these types of bouts held in 2007. Most of you will disagree with me now, but just keep it in mind some time over the next couple of years when the great feeling of anticipation & expectation isn't quite there the next time the WWE go to the face vs face basket.
MAIN
Great American Bash Predictions
NOTE: The following predictions contain a HUGE SPOILER emanating from the SmackDown tapings that occurred last night. If you do not want to be spoiled, I would advise not to read past the first 3 or 4 match predictions.
MVP vs MATT HARDY for the United States Title: The midcard SmackDown feud that just had to happen, these 2 guys have been on a collision course ever since MVP won the US Title. Why? Because they theoretically complement each other so well. They are both at about the same level on the pecking order. Matt has the experience to help the rookie MVP along. Matt also has been on one hell of a tear as far as wrestling quality goes over the past year, while MVP has been steadily improving to the point that he has past being sufficient. On the other side of the ledger, MVP has been excellent from a character standpoint & the way he earns heel heat should play off very effectively against Matt's face character & fan adoration. If this was on SmackDown, it would get 15 minutes, so it better get at least that here on ppv. As for the result, I just think that MVP has established himself way too well to lose the title so soon. It's just a matter of whether he wins or loses by disqualification as I think, and hope, this feud lasts through SummerSlam. Half a chance at being the match of the night! Winner: MVP
UMAGA vs JEFF HARDY for the InterContinental Title: I actually haven’t seen Raw as yet, but do believe that this match-up has been confirmed to take place. It’s not a bad choice either to give back some credibility to the InterContinental Title. Of course, there has practically been no build-up, nor real reason to care. Thankfully, Jeff Hardy is involved & he always seems to get a favorable crowd reaction, while being rather consistent in the ring of late. Of course, there is a fine line regarding this match being too short or too long, so it will have to be booked carefully. As for the result, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if the title made its way around Jeff’s waist this soon, but I somehow doubt that it will. Winner: Umaga
CANDICE MICHELLE vs MELINA for the Women's Title: With Candice's improvement & the return from injury of Beth Phoenix, the Women's Division is all of a sudden showing some signs of depth as it creeps up to 5 in number (6 if you count Maria). Because of that, it will be interesting to see if creative continue to have faith in Candice, who still is isn't up there with her colleagues when it comes to quality wrestling. I think they will here if only because there is now a choice of heels to wrestle against her after this match. These 2 have been inconsistent throughout their feud & I'm really hoping they can step up here to put the finishing touches on their battles. Winner: Candice Michelle
JOHN MORRISON (aka JOHNNY NITRO) vs CM PUNK for the ECW World Title: After their impromptu bout at Vengeance where the live crowd were practically silent, these 2 have gone back to ECW & quietly gone about their business in putting together some genuinely entertaining matches (even against Stevie Richards). Their feud has almost been an indirect one though & I hope that doesn't hurt them come Sunday night. I wouldn't say its make or break for these guys, but I really do believe it is important for the ECW brand that they step up here & put on a quality match. That's not always easy when it comes to 2 men who don't have all that much WWE experience combined. I am certain I am in the majority when I say that I wish WWE just give them a fair amount of time & let them go at it. Hell, make it Extreme Rules to help that process along. If so, I think these 2 could almost steal the show. Yet, if this is booked too conservatively, it could very well be very mediocre. The result will be interesting here. With greater depth on the heel side in ECW, it is almost logical for Punk to win the title, but I just get that feeling that now that Nitro has the ball, he may be allowed to run with it for just a little while longer. Especially now since he has a new name & gimmick. Winner: John Morrison
RANDY ORTON vs DUSTY RHODES in a Texas Bull-Rope Match: You know, it’s a bit of a shame that we have to get bombarded with pay-per-views these days. If not, this feud could have been really well built-up & contained some excellent promos involving the 2 men. I really mean that. But what we do end up getting is a couple of week’s worth of decent stuff & nothing more than that really. Of course, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we were practically assured a very good match at the end of it all, but that is doubtful considering Dusty’s age. The inclusion of his son Cody does actually help here, if only to kill a few minutes during the match to give Dusty a breather. Furthermore, the gimmick also helps obviously. With clever booking, this could actually be quite good. But there is a high-risk factor to it that could see it bombing as well. While it actually wouldn’t be a bad thing to have Dusty win here for variety’s sake, I don’t see WWE going that route. Winner: Randy Orton
THE GREAT KHALI vs BATISTA vs KANE in a Triple Threat Match for the World HeavyWeight Title: Oh boy, haven’t WWE had terrible luck with injuries this year, especially when it comes to the World HeavyWeight Title. It was only 3 months ago that The Undertaker was slated to have a long title reign. He went down, then (his original replacement) Kennedy went down & now Edge. For those unaware, Khali wins the vacated title in a battle royal this Friday on SmackDown & apparently this triple threat match was announced. As soon as Khali was drafted over to SmackDown, you just knew that Batista was going to be his major feud. And I suppose it is better than some of the alternative options. WWE haven't done a bad job of setting that feud up actually, although they could lay off on the 'Khali trying to get out of the match' tangent, as I simply see no reason for that. The match quality clearly won't be anything to write home about, and for that reason, adding Kane to the equation could actually help. But like a few other matches on this card, if the bout is planned well enough, then it can be passable. I sense that the Khali vs Batista feud will carry through until SummerSlam, where some sort of gimmicked match will declare a true winner. For that reason, I am guessing that Khali emerges victorious. Winner: The Great Khali
JOHN CENA vs BOBBY LASHLEY for the WWE Championship: I have already briefly spoken about this match in the 'Appetizers' section of this column. I think the best word to describe it is "interesting". It will be interesting to see how the crowd react. It will be interesting to see how the 2 go about playing their roles (ie: will someone take on a partially heel character). It will be interesting to see how the 2 mesh in the ring. Hell, it will even be interesting to see if WWE bite the bullet & take the WWE Championship off of Cena & put it around the waist of their next golden boy. With all that interest, why I am so blah over this whole main-event? See the 'Appetizers' for the answer. At the end of the day, this will be a good match. Hopefully, everyone proves me wrong & it will be a great match. As for the result, for the umpteenth month in a row, I think there is a real possibility that Cena could lose his title here. Of course, I won't predict it though. Winner: John Cena
Ok, so we have 'The Great American Bash' as it currently stands. The original 8 match card has been whittled down to 7 due to Edge’s injury, so my guess is that another match will be added. But personally, I hope they leave it at 7 in order to allow the midcard matches such as the US & ECW Title matches enough time for the combatants to show their skills. Just looking through my predictions, I have a lot of heels winning. So expect either me to be wrong on 1 or 2 of them (maybe Punk & one of The Hardyz), or a DQ face win or 2. As I said at the top of my column today, I was almost going to skip this event totally. And it still could be a very ho-hum pay-per-view. But fortunately, WWE have interspersed just enough interest & potential around the card to garner enough interest. Now fingers crossed that they get the job done come the night!
DESSERT - Referees
A couple of months back, it was rumored/reported that the WWE, and more specifically Vince McMahon, wanted to subtly change the way as to how their referees went about their business in the ring. Apparently, this had something to do with the world of Mixed Martial Arts, or more specifically the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). Now I'm not going to get into a debate as to how good UFC is, nor whether or not it is true competition to the world of professional wrestling. I haven't seen enough of it to comment really. But I have seen a sufficient amount to know how their officials conduct themselves inside the octagon.
For those that are unaware, the officials in UFC can be very authoritative when they are required to be. They can often be right up in the fighters face, while they won't hesitate to make some sort of body contact with the combatants if needed. UFC is real & the officials there occasionally need to be very careful that neither fighter gets genuinely hurt. The reasons for this are obvious for those that have heard the seemingly ongoing debate regarding the dangers of professional boxing.
Furthermore, while there aren't exactly a great amount of rules in UFC (actually, I am unsure what the rules are apart from no low-blows, biting, eye-pokes & other things that make up Ric Flair's entire offense), the officials are extremely stringent in making sure those rules are adhered to. Once more, they will get physically involved if required.
I was initially fairly neutral in my opinion of this report. In fact, if anything, I was favorable towards it. The two main things that Vince wanted to change was (1) the degree to which the referees enforced themselves to the wrestlers who broke the rules, and (2) have the referees know less of the planned bout & finish, which would hopefully result in a more realistic & spontaneous feel to each match. I have always felt that any degree of reality inside the ring is a good thing. And there have been far too many times where a referee has simply acted too blind, or been too incompetent for my liking. That may have satisfied me at age 15, but with a few extra years under my belt, has definitely started to wear a little thin.
Over the first few weeks of the policy, I noticed the change. As the differences were indeed subtle, I am unsure if I would have noticed it if I hadn't seen such a report right here on LOP. That's a positive for mine, as that means the change was there, yet didn't really attract enough attention upon itself. Hell, with most things in life, if change can be handled in a similar manner, it will be a positive. But over the past couple of weeks, the actions of WWE's referees have started to annoy me just a little & it peaked this past Friday on SmackDown.
It may have slipped under the radar a month or so back, but one of the SmackDown referees (I can't recall his name) was released by the company. I am pretty sure he has been replaced & I believe this replacement was the referee for the Finlay vs Jimmy Wang Yang bout this past Friday. It actually was a good match in the usual way that the SmackDown brand can make a strange match-up good. But this referee just wouldn't keep his nose out of the wrestler's business. I didn't mind it once or twice, but it got real frustrating when he kept on doing it over & over again.
Now I know what this referee was doing was consistent & realistic, but enough was enough. And after this match, I've done a backflip on my opinion of the subject; Scrap the new policy I say! Wrestling is fake... We don't need the referees to play such a huge role. You know why? Because no-one pays their hard-earned dollars to see the referees... They pay to see the wrestlers. Yes, the referees are required & do add to the spectacle, but they are not who the fans pay to see! Plus, when a referee is booked to get physically involved with a wrestler for a genuine storyline reason (as has been done in the past), it simply won't have as much impact now as they pretty much make contact with the combatants in every single bout!
And one final thing; Don't get so picky as to whether a guys 2 shoulders are pinned to the mat please! It didn't bother all those referees back in the day when the late great Mr.Perfect Curt Hennig hit his perfect-plex, so why should it bother you that there is a bee's diaphragm between a wrestler's shoulder & the mat today! Count the pinfall for goodness sake because it confuses both the fans & the wrestlers when you are feeling around the mat as if you are looking for your dropped contact lens!
Okely dokely, that's it for edition #240 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I think I liked the way this column turned out... Maybe I should be in the minority more often! Anyways, whether you want to tell me that I am wrong about face vs face match-ups, wrong about referees or just wrong with my predictions for The Great American Bash, please don't hesitate to send me your thoughts via e-mail. You know that I will reply to all feedback in due time. 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=7.
And while you are on the LOP Forums, why don't you check out my weekly contributions to the Album Review thread. So far, I have reviewed 2 albums each by groups such as My Chemical Romance, Muse, Rise Against, Razorlight, The Killers, Kasabian, The All-American Rejects, The Kaiser Chiefs, AFI, Panic! At The Disco & FallOut Boy. Just click on the following link & scroll down: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=99&page=2.
Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I will obviously have my review of 'The Great American Bash' pay-per-view. In addition to that, I will most likely write about a man we have not seen for a couple of weeks now... And we may not see him for a while yet! 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.
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