DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – SSeries Predictions, House Show Review + More
    Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 12:59 AM EST




    THE WRESTLING MENU #251

    Welcome one and all to the 251st edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

    What to talk about… What to talk about? Well, I’m busy at work still… I probably will be until December. But I don’t want to talk about that! And I’m busy at other times as well. I just need more hours in each day right now. I attended a WWE house show this past Saturday night, while I also have a concert tomorrow (Thursday) night. All the while, I am making a poor fist of training for a fun run on Sunday morning. That may turn into a fun walk the way it’s going.

    To be honest, I have been so busy of late that I haven’t caught up on watching last week’s SmackDown & Monday’s Raw as yet. So it will be interesting to see if that adversely effects my predictions for Survivor Series today.

    On with the show.....


    APPETIZERS - Undercarders

    Forgive me if this comes off as a bit of a filler topic, but I felt it fitted in well with my (longer) house show review that is to follow.

    Some wrestling fans sometimes wonder why there are undercarders employed by wrestling companies at all. And sure it would be great to have a roster full of main-eventers in a perfect world. But apart from the fact that it would just be freaky to have a company full of main-eventers & upper midcarders, undercarders do serve their purpose to any company, whether it is WWE or TNA.

    This is especially the fact when it comes to house shows & touring. It really did stand out as I was watching on live this past Saturday night. And I only went to the show & did not attend any other associated appearances/autograph signing sessions. From my experience, it is the undercarders on most occasions that do the dirty work at these sessions, while the main-eventers may instead be sent to a television or radio studio for a 10 minute interview.

    Undercarders can often be used to experiment a little as well. This can come from the wrestlers themselves or the relevant promotion. While you don’t often see it on televised programming (hence why undercard matches often turn out to be rather boring), undercarders tend to play around with their characters more at house shows. This can range from swapping from heel to face or vice-versa, attempting some new moves or playing to the crowd differently than usual.

    One of the best examples of my point is actually a recently released WWE wrestler; Scotty 2 Hotty. For a guy who was often hardly spotted on television, this guy did a darn lot of work when touring. Furthermore, he would often receive a crowd response not too far below the main-eventers themselves. Whether the response came from 12 year old kids or not is practically irrelevant.

    And of course there are also those wrestlers that appeal to a certain demographic. Whether it be the divas appealing to the males, or someone like Brian Kendrick to the females, these wrestlers may not be the reason why the fans pay their hard-earned cash to view WWE live, but they could be a big reason why a 3 hour show is good value for money & not just a 2 hour yawn-fest waiting for a main-event or 2.


    MAIN – House Show Review

    I suppose this won’t be so much a review as a “General Thoughts’ type of thing. The first & probably most important point to come out of this house show was that the card broke the single night record for most people at Rod Laver Arena. That’s a fairly big distinction considering the arena has been around for well over a decade now & pretty much hosts all the big concerts that come to Melbourne as well as many other sporting events (including the Australian Open tennis). Obviously, the seating configuration of a wrestling event helps, but I still think it’s a record not to be scoffed at. For the record, I believe the official attendance was 15,560.

    Looking around the crowd on the night, there was a hell of a lot of kids. And I’m not just talking about your 14 year olds either as I am certain many of them were in single figures when it came to their age. Of the adults, I was a little surprised that the majority didn’t seem to be in the so-called target audience of WWE (males aged 25-34). That demographic was still well represented, but I had the feeling there was just as many males aged over 35, whether they were the parents of the kids or not.

    Most of the crowd was wearing some sort of wrestling paraphernalia which once more proves to me that the amount of revenue coming from merchandise is still underrated by most. By the way, me & the better half once more achieved the feat of not seeing another person wearing the same t-shirts as we had on. Quite an accomplishment since she had on a Rey Mysterio top & there seemed to be a million of them around despite the fact that he wasn’t even on the card!

    On to the show itself, I had really good seats so was in a good position to see whatever I wanted to. The card began with William Regal wrestling Cody Rhodes. I was a little disappointed that Regal wasn’t handed the mic initially, although he did manage a brief half-match crowd insult. The major thing I noticed here was the size discrepancy between the 2 men. Not height-wise, but in the chest & gut region. Cody is still fairly skinny & he is pretty lean, while Regal looked a combination of overweight & very strong. The match went into the double figures in minutes & was solid, with the crowd getting behind Cody more than I thought they would. It was a decent opener.

    Brian Kendrick appeared next to the screeches of many young females & few “where the hell is London?” comments. I had previously seen the results of an earlier house show that matched Spanky up with Shelton Benjamin, so I was fairly disappointed to see Snitsky emerge as Kendrick’s opponent. Fortunately, it was not your usual television squash & they actually stretched this out to about 10 minutes in length. It was nothing great though. It’s fair to say that Snitsky is huge in practically every way.

    Jillian Hall then emerged to the groans of the fans, although if groans can be positive, these were. Her Kylie Minogue rendition was interrupted by Santino Marella & you can just tell that he is getting over with fans in general by the reaction he got. It was a strange sort of reaction & wasn’t positive in the normal sense. But I can assure everyone it was indeed a positive one & is proof that his comedic heel character is getting over.

    He made mention of the Italy vs Australia World Cup soccer game from last year & one thing that would have got great heel heat that I would have liked to have seen is if he kept diving before & during the match. Oh well, maybe he doesn’t really follow the soccer. Oh, Santino wrestled ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan in what was a pretty terrible match that the 2 somehow stretched out to 10 minutes. This was one time where they should have gone with the usual squash.

    Next up was an interesting heel vs heel vs heel tag-team bout that saw Cade/Murdoch defend their titles against WGTT & The Highlanders. The quality of this match actually surprised me a little with pretty much everyone impressing. Cade & Murdoch were their usual solid selves with the latter yapping it up with the crowd, while Cade showed definite signs of charisma. Haas also played the crowd stirrer-upperer, but in a face role. While Shelton Benjamin clearly showed that he hasn’t lost any of his talent with a few excellent moves & a general ability to connect with fans on a regular basis. It’s just a shame that he doesn’t seem to be able to do the same on the mic. While Rory was just passable for the Scots, Robbie looked good. One dropkick that seemed to hang in the air for an eternity especially stood out.

    Following the intermission, Mr.Kennedy emerged to the initial delight of the crowd. There is absolutely no doubt that when KK does finally turn face, he is going to be adored by the fans. For what must seem like the hundredth time, I once more give kudos to WWE for holding off on his face turn as the longer it is left, the bigger it should be. Mr.Kennedy faced Hardcore Holly in what was a solid bout that was fairly ho-hum for the most part, but had a very good extended finishing sequence that thankfully saw the heel get the win. I must say that it is still confusing to see these 2 wrestle each other as they look too alike when in motion. Thankfully, Holly didn’t offend me this time around & played the face role decently after the match. I think he may have even high-fived someone on the way to the back!

    The definite surprise match of the night in terms of quality was the ‘Best of 3 Falls’ bout between Beth Phoenix & Mickie James for the Women’s Title. I really can’t state how much this could have been a midcard men’s match as far as performance went. There was hardly any downtime throughout what was close to a 15 minute match! And just as importantly, the crowd responded really well to both ladies & the action that took place. Great stuff & I look forward to seeing these 2 hopefully replicate this success on pay-per-view before the year is out. By the way, Mickie looked like she had lost a fair bit of weight to me & looks better live than on tv, while there is also a fair height discrepancy between these 2.

    The final match of the night was Umaga & Randy Orton taking on Triple H & Jeff Hardy. Umaga got a nothing reaction (maybe there was a bit of awe from the young fans), while Orton got many female screeches in what was a good pop. But that same noise was them amplified for the appearance of Jeff Hardy, before the roof was almost blown off the arena when Triple H emerged. I think it’s fair to state that H is still very popular & that is spread over all types of fans. Wrestling-wise, it was a more than acceptable main-event with all 4 men sharing the load & impressing without anyone standing out. The faces remained around ringside for many minutes playing to the fans before departing. That’s always good to see.

    Overall, it was a pretty good night. Considering the lack of roster depth through the brand extension & injuries, everyone involved put on a pretty good show. It may read fairly average on paper, but as per usual, live events tend to play out better & it’s not necessarily all about match quality. The crowd always plays a great factor & fortunately the new arena record was in form on the night. Obviously, the likes of John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Carlito, Shawn Michaels & Paul London would have made a positive difference, but such is life. As always, if you haven’t been to a live event for over a year & have some spare cash lying around, I recommend that you attend one. This is especially the case if you get in early on the day of the ticket release & get yourself a pretty good seat.


    DESSERT

    Survivor Series Predictions

    BETH PHOENIX, JILLIAN HALL, MELINA, LAYLA & VICTORIA vs MICKIE JAMES, MARIA, MICHELLE McCOOL, TORRIE WILSON & KELLY KELLY: As at the time of me writing this, it was a little unclear whether this match would be a traditional Survivor Series elimination match or just a one-fall tag bout. I’m thinking that while WWE wouldn’t mind experimenting with the elimination format, they may just play it safe & go for an extended one-fall match. I’d actually open with this as that many women in one ring should be able to get the crowd going in some way & the action should be pretty non-stop considering the amount of women involved. For that reason, the quality of this bout rests solely on the booking of it. If WWE can get it right, this could be very entertaining. If they get it wrong, the involvement of some non-wrestling divas could make this fail. As for the result, it may get back to whether its one-fall or elimination, but I’ll suggest the faces get up anyway. Winners: Mickie James’ Team

    CM PUNK vs JOHN MORRISON vs THE MIZ in a Triple Threat Match for the ECW Title: In its customary death position of 2nd match on a pay-per-view, here comes the ECW Title Match. And my expectations are going to be low once more here. Sure, this could be rather good, but with the way ECW Title matches have been booked on ppv previously, this will be a standard bout that will most likely set up something bigger & better to happen 2 nights later on the weekly ECW show. Making this a multi-man does help, as I have noticed similar past ECW matches work better than singles bouts. So maybe there is a glimmer of hope. As for the result, this could be a good opportunity to pass the title over to Morrison as rumored, but as per my previous point, WWE will probably want to leave that to television. Winner: CM Punk

    TRIPLE H, REY MYSTERIO, KANE & THE HARDYZ vs UMAGA, KEN KENNEDY, MVP, FINLAY & BIG DADDY V in an 10 Man Tag-Team Elimination Match: Ahhh, the good old traditional Survivor Series Elimination matches… We gotta love them. Hands up who remembers when the entire ppv card was made up of these types of bouts? This will be a fun & entertaining match. The only real concern I have is a little similarity to last year when Triple H & The Hardyz were involved as well. But that was a year ago & this is now. If anything, the relative strength of the face team may be a bit too much here & I can’t really see them losing. Winners: Triple H’s Team

    LANCE CADE & TREVOR MURDOCH vs HARDCORE HOLLY & CODY RHODES for the World Tag-Team Titles: This late addition to the card isn’t the worst filler that WWE could choose. I’m still not convinced of Holly & Rhodes making a great face team, but there is at least a built-in storyline there that should last a couple of months. In fact, for that same reason, I see the champs retaining here as it may be best storyline-wise to build up the new teaming of Holly & Rhodes with the respect / dissension perspective being played out to the max. Quality-wise, this will probably be ho-hum, but if given some time (& there is no reason it can’t be given about 8-10 minutes), this could break into the 7-7.5 range. Winners: Cade & Murdoch

    RANDY ORTON vs SHAWN MICHAELS for the WWE Championship: I suppose I should note that a couple of stipulations have been added to this match, as they are both likely to come into play heavily for the storyline of the bout. Hopefully, they will be a positive addition to the psychology of the bout & I can’t see why they wouldn’t be unless they were used too often. I’m hoping these 2 have an extra few tricks up their sleeve after their ppv bout last month. Not that it was bad… Far from it in fact. Maybe I am just underwhelmed by the whole feud for some reason. The only reason I can think of is I simply don’t believe HBK is all that much of a chance of emerging from this feud with the title. In fact, if he didn’t return from injury prematurely or WWE, I would be almost certain of it. I think I’ll back my judgment here anyway. Winner: Randy Orton

    HORNSWOGGLE vs THE GREAT KHALI: Oh boy, this better be leading somewhere!!! If not, this either better be real funny or they must get the entrances & match over quick smart. I really am unsure what else to say here. I just feel for this match-up to be placed on the card, there must be a planned direction to this angle. But in all honesty, I haven’t got a clue what that direction is! Winner: The Great Khali

    BATISTA vs THE UNDERTAKER in a Hell In A Cell Match for the World HeavyWeight Title: Add this to the list of face vs face WWE matches in 2007. Readers will know that I believe this list to be too long, but I must admit that WWE have done a great job in stretching this feud out & somehow keeping it relatively fresh. The Hell In A Cell gimmick is as good a way to (hopefully) end the feud as any & it deserves to be the main-event of this ppv. I actually expect a fairly different bout to their match from Cyber Sunday as the cell is sure to come into play, while I doubt they would want to exhaust the extended finishing sequence route once more.

    The interesting thing here is how a face vs face match in a cell will play out intensity-wise. I have my doubts that it will work that well, but I’ve had my doubts about these 2 before & been pleasantly surprised. Another interest factor here is the result. I actually feel that whatever the planned SmackDown main-event of WrestleMania 24 is will play a major part here. But without advanced knowledge of those plans, unpredictability is still existent here thankfully. Therefore, I am going to rule with my heart & not my head here & predict by what I want the WM24 main-event to be. My thought would be best served by Edge (somehow) interfering here & the result (somehow) going ‘Taker’s way! Winner: The Undertaker

    Ok, so there is the 2007 version of the Survivor Series pay-per-view as it currently stands. It only has 7 matches being promoted, but with at least 2 of them likely to last over 25 minutes (entrances included), then I am presuming that will see the card out. With Cyber Sunday being pretty good last month & the 2 repeated main-event match-ups being backed up by the traditional Survivor Series (& an expanded ECW Title) bout here, I actually feel this could be a real good show, even if it doesn’t scream that out on paper. Let’s just hope that the filler isn’t too bad & the potential of everything involved is indeed realized. For those planning to watch the show, fingers crossed that we get our moneys worth & just a little bit more.


    Ok, that’s it for edition #251 of ‘The Wrestling Menu’. I hope you enjoyed my column today as it didn’t seem to flow as well as usual when I was writing it. I’ll blame a lack of spare time at present for that. If you would like to provide feedback on anything I wrote about today, then shoot me off an email. 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=9. Either way, please remember that it may take me a while to reply.

    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 multiple albums by groups such as My Chemical Romance, Muse, Rise Against, Razorlight, The Killers, Kasabian, The All-American Rejects, Kaiser Chiefs, AFI, Panic At The Disco, Fall Out Boy, Jet, Hinder, LostProphets, Trust Company, Orson, Daughtry, Bayside, Funeral For A Friend, The Klaxons, Taking Back Sunday, The Fratellis, Wolfmother, Story Of The Year & Franz Ferdinand. All these reviews can be viewed by simply clicking on the following link & scrolling down: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=99&page=3.

    Next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I will be here with my Survivor Series Review & will also present the 6th annual “DaveyBoy’s ROOKIE RANKINGS”. My rookie rankings have been a yearly staple of this column & they always are received well by readers even if they aren’t always agreed with. As per usual, my column will be posted at the same Wednesday time on the same LOP channel next week. 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*** VERY CONTROVERSIAL Shots of LETICIA CLINE on Howard Stern!! WHOA!!

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