Take up thy wrestling boots and walk - the 150th column
Submitted by Pt2 on Monday, September 17, 2007 at 11:17 AM EST





Welcome for the 150th time to the column that has finally run out of bubblegum, Take up thy wrestling boots and walk. I’m the columnist whose soul leaves every Smackdown arena, Pt2, back once again to talk about the latest happenings and rumblings in the world of mock pugilism that is professional wrestling.

First, an apology. It’s taken me a bit of time to come up with this 150th column, and I haven’t written for over a month now. Truth is, I couldn’t think of anything special to do that I liked, and have now just decided to write a standard, run of the mill column, After all, 150 is just another number, right? Maybe when I get to 250 I’ll come up with a decent celebratory idea.

Anyway, I’m guessing if you are reading this, you probably saw Unforgiven, right?

I did. It was free here in the UK, which is a bonus. The card started off with CM Punk defending against Elijah Burke. A decent match here, but no better than that. Both are phenomenal athletes, but not good enough in ring to get by on that alone, in the style of a Bret Hart. They’re going to need something else to work with, and like virtually every week on the ECW brand, they aren’t getting that support in terms of character and story development. I wouldn’t be surprised to see John Morrison head straight back to the top of that roster. Y’know, once he’s finished serving a timeout for being a naughty boy.

Incidentally, on the subject of the recent suspensions, you see how most of the names on the list are not the guys whose name gets bandied around in relation to drugs? Smaller guys, like Edge, Gregory Helms, Chavo Guerrero, Funaki and Charlie Haas all ended up on that list, we are led to believe. If it is steroids that they are suspended in connection with, I think you’d have to raise the point again about the continuing need to educate wrestlers that this isn’t the eighties, and you don’t need steroids to get ahead in New York, the vaunted land of the big man. Obviously some of their most talented stars and brightest prospects were found on the list, so they aren’t going to cut them adrift, but it is proof that there is definitely from for improvement. Hopefully this mass suspension is a step in the right direction.

MVP and Matt Hardy retained in the tag match against Deuce and Domino. I must be honest, I wasn’t overly enjoying this angle until they won the tag titles, but since then it’s picked up no end and I’m finding it entertaining. It’s not original material by any means, but it’s a classic formula, and the classics are classics for a reason. With every week I become more and more convinced that one day MVP will be a world champion. It wasn’t difficult to see who was walking away with this one, though, and a nice little finish will keep this simmering for a few more weeks, at the very least.

In possibly the most predictable match of the night (OK, second most predictable), HHH beat Carlito. You could have bet the house on the game in this one. Is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling that despite all the tipping early on in his (albeit still fledgling) career, Carlito is falling rapidly and probably unlikely ever to become a world champion? At one point he looked really like breaking into the top tier, but quickly fell away, and now he’s right back down in the midcard. I’m also not convinced that HHH is going to spend too much time on the big belt in future. Cena seems to be Vince McMahon’s guy, and with Orton, Kennedy, and Lashley all in the mix on RAW, HHH is, for the first time since the end of the attitude era, in a big mix of guys who could all hold the belt. I’m not saying he’ll never win it again - in fact, I’m sure he will take it at least once more - but he’ll certainly have far less time on the belt than he has done in recent years, where for long periods he has been asked to carry the brand.

It’s been a year since John Cena won the WWE title, and 364 days into that reign he got himself disqualified against Randy Orton. This was actually a bit of a nothing match, designed to continue the feud. The only thing I could really garner from this is the only person in the world who punts with less conviction than Randy Orton is actually Old Man Cena. Davey Boy called this one spot on in his predictions with a DQ ending - but they will meet again, and it can now only be a matter of time until Cena loses the belt, for him to have a big build up and chase into Wrestlemania. Orton could topple him in their next encounter.

RAW actually has a tag division these days. Well, I say division, it is more like 2-3 teams, but it is most definitely a start - especially as they have the brilliant Haas and Benjamin team returning at some point. I loved this match - not particularly because it was a brilliant tag match, but because it was a tag match of decent length between two different teams with different styles, and that is something that was completely absent on RAW for the best part of two years or more. Hopefully this will be a sign of things to come. Cade and Murdoch have really come on as a team, and may prove to be the staple of that division. If they do drop the title to London and Kendrick, then I’d expect to see the high-fliers move onto a program with TWGTT.

The Great Khali, the massive redwood, was finally chopped down last night. I don’t think anyone thinks it was the wrong decision to take it off him. I’m sure there will be people dubious about Big Dave Batista becoming the three time World Champion in a few weeks, but for the time being everyone is just euphoric about Khali losing it.

But don’t celebrate just yet. I’m not out to bash Khali, and I’m going to say it like I see it. Khali is huge, and he can move pretty well compared with other super giants, such as El Gigante and Giant Sylva (who incidentally teamed with Khali in NJPW). Also, if they thought he was that bad as champion, he would never have held the title for nearly two months. He may be beaten, but he will be back on our screens, and near the top of the card, I would wager.

The main event was the much heralded Undertaker return. I must admit, after the introduction, this was pretty dull and I zoned out for most of it. After all, Mark Henry matches don’t exactly excite the mind, do they? Undertaker won, as I’m sure everyone in the known world could have predicted, and apparently he’s going to be back in the world title frame. I can’t say I’m overly surprised considering the way his previous reign was derailed. I wouldn’t mind betting that he’ll have to wait until 2008 now, as I doubt Big Dave’s reign is going to be all that short - I would be tremendously surprised if he lost the belt before December, and I also don’t see another Batista vs. Undertaker match for the Championship that early - if it is those two again, they may wait and put them head to head at Wrestlemania one more time. I wouldn’t rule out a returning Edge forcing his way into that mix.

Overall, I found Unforgiven to be a hit and miss between the amusing and the mediocre, finished with a borefest of a main event. I have found most of the last few months to follow a similar kind of pattern. Earlier in the year, my hopes were high, but since the end of April everything seems to have fallen back into a trundling mediocrity. There are a few good matches, funny moments, and promising signs littered throughout the whole thing, but the problem the WWE is having right now seems to be the one they have had since the very first column I penned over 4 years ago, and even before then.

Their problem is one of consistency.

It is not enough to come good for a few months per year and coast the rest of the time - you are not going to capture peoples imagination and hit the heights in that fashion. I’m not saying they didn’t have mediocre weeks back in 2000, but they were only weeks in those days, as opposed to long stretches of months were the high spots are greatly outnumbered. The WWE has a talented roster (one that is still too large, in my opinion) and as many of their chosen stars grow in experience they continue to improve, but their support has always been inconsistent at best. The company will now begin to plan for Wrestlemania, and start to implement those plans around the end of October. They’ll have Cena, HHH, Undertaker, Edge, Orton, Kennedy, Lashley, Carlito, Kane, Rey Mysterio and a host of others available to them - an array of popular talent that they arguably haven’t had in years. Who knows, maybe even Shawn Michaels will make a return around that time and give us something to remember.

We all now how things can come together brilliantly. Usually, November through to March is a good time for the company. With that array of talent that is, crucially, so Over right now, it’s vital that they get it right. This time, there can be no excuses.

On that note, I think I’ll end this 150th bout of Take up thy wrestling boots and walk. If I were to thank everyone that has supported me over the last three years, this column would go on for another few thousand words - it is a shame I can’t thank you all individually, but rest assured, to everyone that has supported and helped me either by critiquing, encouraging, or even just turning up to read my stuff, I offer you my sincere thanks. I’m sure you all know who you are.

I can make one thank you by name, however. That goes to Calvin and LOP for giving me a place to write my inane drivel for over four years now. I must concede, I’m very grateful.

I can be reached at takeupthywrestlingboots@gmail.com

Until next time,

Take care,

Pt2









*NEW GALLERY* MUST SEE! Very Rare Photos of KAREN ANGLE Over the Years!

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