DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu #260 – Ladder Match DVD + ‘No Way Out’ Predictions
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 12:18 AM EST
THE WRESTLING MENU #260
Welcome one and all to the 260th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.
Well, one SuperBowl has been & gone and it’s now time to look forward to the SuperBowl of Professional Wrestling that is now only a little over a month away. Things are indeed hotting up in the WWE world & it’s a good time to be a fan right now.
I don’t have much else to chat about today except to welcome a brand new LOP column-writer as a colleague. Hustle is (in)famous amongst the LOP Forums, so check out what all the hoopla is about by reading his new column ‘Hustle Is Posting Right Now’ on the main page.
And now it’s on with the show…..
’Ladder Match’ DVD REVIEW
This is a 3 disc set & it is simply titled ‘The Ladder Match’. There is no documentary portion as such & it is basically composed of a series of matches that are separated by Todd Grisham making wise-cracks, giving general information or talking to some of the involved talents. I will break my review up by disc, with discs 1 & 2 appearing this week & disc 3 (plus a conclusion) next Wednesday
APPETIZERS – Disc-1
Following a brief introduction by Todd Grisham, we join our first match approximately 4 minutes in progress…..
BIG DADDY RITTER (aka The Junkyard Dog) defeated JAKE ROBERTS (Stampede Wrestling. July 1979): This is an interesting little history piece as it shows the origins of the ladder match idea & just how much it has changed to what we see today. Here, a super tall ladder is helped up by a 2nd referee of sorts & leans on some scaffolding which holds a bag containing some cash & the North American Heavyweight Championship that is on the line. The face Roberts & heel Ritter go back & forth with both men taking turns in trying to climb the ladder. Both men also use a boot to highlight the ‘no disqualification’ aspect of the match type. Ritter eventually climbs to victory when Jake gets tied up in the ropes. We see 6 of 10 minutes to this bout & while it’s nothing special at all, I do feel it is a welcome addition to this set. Match Rating: N/A, but thumbs up as a DVD Extra of sorts
BRET HART defeated SHAWN MICHAELS (WWE. July-21, 1992): Bret retained the InterContinetal Title in this bout that was apparently originally slated for SummerSlam of that year, but taken off that card when that ppv was announced to be held in London-England. It’s always great seeing the pre-mid 90’s heel HBK & he is in fine form here with manager Sensational Sherri at ringside. A nice combination of pace & intensity begins the bout with both men selling tremendously for each other. It’s pleasing (& almost fresh) to see both men try super hard initially to not even allow their opponent to bring the ladder into the ring. But an effective distraction from Sherri almost sees HBK steal an early win. Michaels settles for using the ladder as a weapon, as both men feel the wrath of the steel after attempting to climb up the ladder.
More back & forth action ensues, some involving the ladder & some not, before Sherri causes another distraction to allow HBK to hit his super-kick. But as he has his hands on the title, The Hitman drop-kicks him all the way out of the ring to subsequently earn the victory at the 14 minute mark. A little gem of a match that I had not seen previously & is a great addition to this set. There is no wasted time here & the action comes thick & fast while always being entertaining. Shawn’s (over-)selling of Bret’s offense really adds something here, as does Sherri at ringside & the ladder itself. Well-structured, it obviously would have been nice if this went a little longer to allow them to work in bigger spots. There is a nice bridging of eras in this match. Match Rating: 8.5
In amongst Todd Grisham chatting to HBK about his WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match against Razor Ramon, we see some footage from that infamous, groundbreaking & fantastic bout that I rate a perfect 10. In all honesty, while the bout is indeed available elsewhere on WWE DVD, it still would have been nice to see it included here to fully complete this set. Of course, it all leads to a rematch some 17 months later…..
SHAWN MICHAELS defeated RAZOR RAMON (WWE SummerSlam. August-27, 1995): HBK retains his InterContinetal Title here in what is practically a face vs face bout. Two extremely pacy exchanges begin the match as both men are a second away from hitting their finishing maneuvers. Razor soon punishes HBK with an inside to the floor suplex where Michaels’ foot dangerously hits the guardrail. A fall-away slam by Razor then finally allows him to bring the ladder to the ring, but HBK just saves the day by knocking his opponent off it on his first climb. The roles are then reversed soon after, but HBK’s leg gets caught in the ladder on the way down, allowing Razor to target the injury with a good variety of mainly ladder-based offense for minutes on end. After making another last-minute save, Shawn pulls out a moonsault from off the top of the ladder that was literally the definition of a perfect photo opportunity!
Both men then duke it out atop the ladder as they both come tumbling down to leave their voices at a higher pitch! This leads to some dead time at ringside before Razor brings a 2nd ladder into play. Before he uses it though, he finds time to hit his Razor’s Edge finisher. HBK recovers though & hits a super-kick while they are both on ladders. He then counters another Razor’s Edge with a backdrop that allows him to climb up (even if it takes 2 attempts) to victory at the 25 minute mark. A great effort by both men here & definitely great entertainment no matter which way you look at it. Often under-rated since most don’t feel it quite rivals the original ladder match between these 2, this is still good enough for me to consider giving it a perfect 10. But being picky, some dead time & some over-booking just prevent me from doing so. This is still a genuine classic. Match Rating: 9.5
TRIPLE H defeated THE ROCK (WWE SummerSlam. August-20, 1998): We get a full Chris Warren Band intro (even if the music sounds horrible) for the face DX leading Triple H here in this bout which sees him win the InterContinental Title. Chyna is at ringside for H, while Mark Henry plays the same role for Rocky. An intense beginning in the ring sees both men’s finishing moves reversed, leading to a fair bit of ringside brawling. When the ladder makes its way into the ring, it is a rare HHH top-rope move that saves the day. But when H is pulled off the ladder shortly after, he lands awkwardly & hurts his knee, which allows The Rock to target it without mercy. A 2nd ladder soon emerges & a nice spot sees Triple H baseball slide a ladder right into Rocky’s face to (I think legitimately) bust him open.
The People’s Elbow momentarily gets the crowd cheering for the heel & a follow-up Rock Bottom sees the bout almost come to an end. But a pedigree from nowhere stems the tide, while Mark Henry swings it back to the heel by blinding HHH with powder. It is a subsequent low-blow from Chyna that proves decisive though & Triple H climbs to victory at the 25 minute mark. It is actually a little freaky how similar in structure this was to HBK vs Razor from SummerSlam ’95, even down to the duration. They were 3 years apart though & this was more of a big man affair anyway in that it included more impact & less high-flying. A little too over-dramatic at times & a tad over-booked towards the end, it’s difficult to fault the workrate of the 2 here & it should be remembered that neither man had established themselves as stars at this time. Engrossing & entertaining, this probably hasn’t aged quite as well as some of the other WWE ladder matches, but is still darn good. Match Rating: 8.5
THE NEW BROOD (aka The Hardy Boyz) defeated EDGE & CHRISTIAN (WWE No Mercy. October-17, 1999) This was the deciding match in a 'Best Of 5' series where the winner would get $100,000 & Terri Runnels’ managerial services. The Hardyz had Gangrel with them at ringside, although he was ejected early on. More importantly, this was the first ever tag-team ladder match in WWE history & it really did show with the originality & innovation on show! Fought under tornado rules (ie: no tags required), the action was constantly on the move, whether it be 2, 3 or 4 man action. Early high spots see Jeff hit a swanton on to a ladder, Jeff hit an over the ladder top-rope leg-drop and Matt hitting a moonsault on to a ladder! Edge & Christian then get their turn on offense as 2 ladders are set up in the ring to allow multiple finishers to be hit off of them. Jeff then takes out both Matt & Christian with a swanton on a slingshot like contraption, while all 4 men then climb for the title but come crashing down.
A clever little finishing sequence sees Jeff jump from one ladder to another for the victory at the 17 minute mark. Totally amazing match & all 4 men were deserving of the kudos they received following this bout. Groundbreaking in many ways, this was the match that basically ushered in a new era & if it wasn't for the success (& quality) of this match, then we may have been deprived of future Ladder & TLC matches. If I could find 1 fault with this match that was partially ahead of its time, it was that it was a little too much of a spotfest. But that's being way too picky. These 4 guys gave 100% & put their bodies on the line for the full match duration & even the simplest of moves that weren’t worth mentioning in this review looked like they would have hurt the participants! Match Rating: 10
In amongst Todd Grisham chatting to Edge about the creation of TLC (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) matches, we see some highlights of the WrestleMania 16 triangle ladder match involving Edge/Christian, The Hardy Boyz & The Dudley Boyz. This leads us into the first ever TLC Match…..
EDGE & CHRISTIAN defeated THE HARDY BOYZ & THE DUDLEY BOYZ WWE SummerSlam. August-27, 2000): The heel team retain their World Tag-Team Championships in this bout that is mayhem right from the beginning as all 6 men & a couple of chairs are in the ring! And it’s only 2 minutes later when 2 ladders are in the ring & being used as well. We see a nice Buh-Buh Bomb off a ladder & then the controlling Dudleyz “get the tables”. Christian gets 3-D’d through one & then they begin to build a multi-table contraption at ringside. Edge breaks up their party, but he pays for it with leg-drops off & over a ladder by The Hardyz. In a huge spot, Jeff then comes off a larger ladder at ringside & goes through a table with a Swanton! Soon after, Buh-Buh finds himself as the only conscious man, but his climbing is halted by E & C as he is pushed off the ladder through the previously-built ringside construction!
An interfering Lita then stops E & C from getting the victory, but D-Von does the same to Matt by sending him crashing a long way down through a ringside table. Jeff & D-Von then both get their hands on the titles, but they end up both swinging with no result as Edge pushes the supporting ladder away. After that fall, Edge & Christian climb up & grab the titles at the 15 minute mark. A near perfect 2nd half to this bout enabled so much action to occur within the set timeframe. In retrospect, I suppose the fact that the 1st half had some relatively slower spots helped them to last this duration due to the grueling nature of the match. A bit too spotty at times, that’s a picky criticism as this was an extremely entertaining, involving & unpredictable bout overall. Of course, it was even fresher back then since it was the 1st TLC Match ever! Match Rating: 9.5
3 COUNT (Shane Helms & Shannon Moore) defeated JUNG DRAGONS (Jimmy Yang & Kaz Hayashi) & JAMIE KNOBLE/EVAN KARAGIAS (WCW Starrcade. December-17, 2000): This ladder match was for a cruiserweight title match contract & the current champ Chavo Guerrero is on special comments here. Initially wrestled as a proper 3 team tag match, but obviously those on the apron quickly got involved as soon as anyone goes for the ladder. 3 Count attempt to sneak the ladder into the ring & then all notions of tags are thrown out the window as all 6 men go at it. Partners Knoble & Karagias begin to show some dissension, as Yang begins to show some of his innovative high-flying. In fact, all men take to the air as one sequence sees all of them taking huge dives to the outside one by one! A nice little 2 ladder set-up then allows a sequence of very good moves from off a ladder at about top-rope height.
A couple of taller ladders finally make their way into the ring & the Dragons set up a scaffold-like structure, but it is eventually 3 Count who use it to their advantage to get the win at the 13 minute mark. Entertaining bout & refreshing just for the fact that it contained different & smaller men than we were used to seeing. A little too rehearsed at times & even containing some not so crisp action, these guys eventually worked their butts off to win over the live crowd. Innovative at times, but I felt that they could have made more of some of the situations. Maybe the allotted match duration didn’t allow them this… Who knows? An interesting match that is fully deserving of its place on this set, but I’m not sure it’s a match that has necessarily aged well. Match Rating: 8
CHRIS JERICHO defeated CHRIS BENOIT (WWE Royal Rumble. January-21, 2001): These 2 refreshingly don’t even think about going for a ladder in the opening couple of minutes, as they put together some solid & well-paced wrestling in the ring. Benoit is eventually the man that does get the ladder into the squared circle, but it’s all to no avail initially. In a spot of huge impact, Benoit attempts to suicide dive on to Jericho at ringside, but gets a chair-shot flush to his head for this trouble. Y2J then gets a ladder shot flush to his head though & this allows Benoit to rather methodically control the next few minutes. An Irish-whip into the ladder stems the tide though & Jericho goes to work with a see-saw ladder shot that hits hard. The 2 then battle atop the ladder where Y2J applies a Walls of Jericho type hold, but it isn’t enough to get the victory.
Back on the mat, Jericho taps out to a crossface, but is able to avoid a swan dive headbutt from the top of a ladder. The face Jericho then tries to trap Benoit under the ladder so he can climb to the top, but Benoit flips it & sends Y2J to the floor awkwardly. Jericho returns the complement soon after though & it’s enough to allow Y2J to gain the victory at the 19 minute mark. This was more of an old-school type of ladder match, if there is such a thing. The ladder was not always the focus of the bout, yet always loomed large. When the object was brought in to action, it seemed to have more significance. There was great impact involved throughout this bout, but that was to be expected of these 2. Not quite perfectly structured for mine, but considering how it was put together, it was necessary to stretch this out past the 15 minute mark, which they thankfully did. Match Rating: 9
MAIN – Disc-2
EDGE/CHRISTIAN defeated THE HARDY BOYZ & THE DUDLEY BOYZ (WWE WrestleMania 17. April-1, 2001): This was the 2nd ever TLC match & it was The Dudleyz who entered as champs. Unsurprisingly it is mass pandemonium right from the outset and tables, ladders & chairs all get involved within the opening 4 minutes, Both face teams get some nice crowd-popping spots in that time while a few more bigger spots are clearly set up for later. A 3 ladder set-up sees Christian take a huge & awkward fall to the floor, before mass interference sees Spike Dudley, Rhyno & Lita have a significant effect on proceedings prior to the 10 minute mark! Jeff then swantons Rhyno through a table off of a huge ladder at ringside, before he doesn’t quite complete the impossible of walking atop 3 ladders to the titles. He does eventually get a grip of the title-holding cables though & this leads to the infamous spot where Edge spears him in mid-air from off a ladder.
The spots don’t end there though with Matt & Buh-Buh taken out by going from the top of a ladder in the ring through 4 tables on the floor. Edge & Christian are then left standing and (with the help of Rhyno) scale up to the titles for the victory at the 16 minute mark. Occasionally criticized match (I presume for being over-booked & spotty), I have TLC2 in my top 20 matches of all time. Just look at the crowd during this extravaganza; Most of them are standing!!! In my opinion, it's 16 minutes of pure entertainment. Extremely brave, the 6 performers (& 3 interferers) did all that they could to improve on their previous efforts at WrestleMania 16 & SummerSlam 2000. Not everything went to script, but it was almost impossible for it to do so. Obviously, there were huge spots galore, while I feel that Spike, Lita & Rhyno actually added to the action. The 9 wrestlers definitely gave it their all & this was simply pure entertainment! Match Rating: 10
CHRIS JERICHO/CHRIS BENOIT defeated EDGE/CHRISTIAN, THE HARDY BOYZ & THE DUDLEY BOYZ: (WWE SmackDown. May-24, 2001): WWE took it one step further here by adding a 4th team to the TLC formula. Benoit & Jericho entered here as champions & had only held the titles for 3 nights! It almost looked like a Royal Rumble match at the beginning as there were definitely no such things as tags! The intensity & impact is initially amazing & that is from all moves, whether they involved a TLC object or not. The only real high spot of the first 6 minutes comes when Benoit swan dives himself through a table at ringside (from the top-rope) & seemingly takes himself out of the match! Y2J applies the Walls Of Jericho on Edge while atop 2 ladders, while Christian takes a nasty fall to the floor. Buh-Buh then suplexes Jeff from a ladder as the action starts to come thick & fast. At this stage, Benoit wanders back out to a huge pop, but 2 chair-shots to his injured ribs put him down again.
More huge chair-shots follow as The Dudleys “get the tables” & 3D Christian through one from off a ladder! The Hardyz, who had been quiet to this stage, then set up a huge spot as Jeff goes over the top of a taller ladder to leg-drop Buh-Buh through the announce table! Matt then hits a twist of fate on D-Von off a ladder & it’s soon followed by an Edge spear of Y2J in mid-air off a ladder. With pretty much everyone down, Benoit casually climbs up to retain the titles at the 19 minute mark (excluding commercial time). This was a bout that was way too good for free television & possibly one of the best tv matches ever! What I especially liked about it was how hard-hitting it was… There was just such an impact & intensity about it that impressed. Add in the mentioned high spots & this pretty much had it all. Adding the extra team may have made the bout a little too cluttered, but it did allow them to stretch out the duration. Excellent stuff. Match Rating: 9.5
EDGE defeated CHRISTIAN (WWE No Mercy. October-21, 2001): Christian had well & truly turned super heel here (turning Edge face by default) & not only won the InterContinental Title, but also defected to the WCW/ECW alliance. The 2 brawl at ringside & into the crowd to begin with as Edge sells the storyline of more wanting to hurt his on-screen brother than win the match. The ladder is initially used simply & sparingly, until Edge cops it in the face when Christian uses it as a dangerous see-saw. He then sling-shots Edge into it moments later as we pass the 10 minute mark with hardly an attempt made to climb up to retrieve the title! Both men then hit pseudo finishers from off of ladders before Edge splashes Christian across a ladder. Edge then hits his now usual ladder match spear, as both men fall to ringside off a ladder soon after. Christian recovers first, but a chair-shot low-blow & conchairto atop ladders allows Edge to win the title at the 22 minute mark.
I understand & even appreciated the attempt at storyline & psychology here, but at the end of the day, this bout simply wasn’t successful on capitalizing on the situation. The main reasons for this were it’s methodical pace & over-length. Furthermore, while there were some clever spots, there wasn’t anything to really get excited about & there should be during a ladder match (admittedly due to past deeds). It was still pretty entertaining when viewed in isolation though, so it’s is difficult to mark it down too much, but it’s fair to state this was not the best ladder match we have ever seen. Match Rating: 7.5
ROB VAN DAM defeated EDDIE GUERRERO (WWE Raw. May-27, 2002): Eddie entered this bout as InterContinetal champion & was well and truly the heel here, Some very good high-impact action at ringside kicks things off & that doesn’t change in the ring as even the simplest of moves make me wince a little! Eddie dominates the first 6 minutes with the ladder hardly coming into play, but RVD hits a moonsault through a ladder to stem the tide. Eddie takes an awkward fall when RVD drop-kicks the ladder out from under his opponent, but the heel soon retaliates with a wicked sunset-flip powerbomb from off a ladder! He follows up with a senton, but some chair-based offense back-fires as the Van Daminator is hit, as is a ladder-assisted split-legged moonsault. A huge monkey-flip into a ladder follows as does rolling thunder. A botched spot then occurs as RVD falls off an unstable ladder when trying to hit a 5 star frog splash, but he soon recovers to win the title at the 18 minute mark (excluding commercial time).
This was a well-structured bout that built up well to its near-perfect duration. The impact here (especially from Eddie) was a joy to behold & the gradual inclusion of the ladder only served to highlight this more. Some great back & forth action was included, and it used RVD’s usual spots combined with some great Eddie moves, very well. This bout has been criticized in some circles, but many forget this was a television match & was better than any fan can expect for free. It did have a couple of iffy moments, including RVD’s botch & a couple of other instances where things didn’t go totally smoothly, but this was still a well put together, entertaining & enthralling match. Match Rating: 8.5
THE UNDERTAKER defeated JEFF HARDY (WWE Raw. July-1, 2002): This ladder match was in the midst of a surprise Jeff Hardy push & was for The Undertaker’s undisputed WWE Championship. A clever beginning sees Jeff feign getting on Taker’s bike to distract him for a couple of inventive hit & run moves. It isn’t long though until the dead man goes to work with methodical big man offense, predominantly at ringside. Undertaker has the opportunity to easily win the bout at the 4 minute mark, but he decides to inflict more ringside pain on his opponent. The methodical beat-down continues for a couple more minutes with Jeff occasionally putting up a spirited fight to earn the respect of the veteran heel. The tide fully turns at the 10 minute mark when Jeff hits a whisper in the wind & a somersault plancha to the outside. When he follows up with a frankensteiner variation that sends Taker to the outside, the crowd pops loudly thinking that they may see one of the greatest upsets in WWE history! But a huge chair-shot saves the day for the champ.
The Undertaker then sets up a Last Ride powerbomb, but Jeff surprisingly counters with a chair-shot as the crowd goes bonkers once more. But The Undertaker chases down Jeff climbing up the ladder & hits a rather weak looking chokeslam from the top to earn the victory at the 14 minute mark. This was definitely something different for a ladder match, even if it wasn’t all positive. Including the dead man in the bout was always going to mean a methodical pace & reduced duration, but it was still pretty good for what it was & a darn good television main-event. And those fake finishes (especially the 2nd one) were very well booked & performed. Match Rating: 7.5
KANE/THE HURRICANE defeated ROB VAN DAM/JEFF HARDY, BUH-BUH RAY/SPIKE DUDLEY & CHRIS JERICHO/CHRISTIAN (WWE Raw. October-7, 2002): This was the 2nd 4 team TLC match & it was Kane & The Hurricane who entered as champions. Well sort of, as The Hurricane never took his place in the bout due to an earlier attack. Even alone, Kane dominates initial proceedings as it soon turns into a merry-go-round of 1 on 1 in-ring action. Spike’s lack of size allows for the occasional crowd-popping moment, but it is Jeff’s leg-dropping of Kane off a ladder & through a table at the 7 minute mark that really gets the crowd to their feet. Following an extended directionless sequence in the ring which involved pretty much everyone, RVD hits a Van Terminator on Kane, but partner Jeff can’t take advantage as Buh-Buh suplexes him from the top of a ladder.
Soon after, Y2J takes one hell of a nasty fall from atop a ladder to the floor, while Spike & Jeff try to match it by being thrown through ringside tables. Not long later, Kane choke-slams Jericho from the top of a ladder & retrieves the titles to single-handedly retain them at the 22 minute mark (excluding commercial time). That final 6 or so minutes was pretty involving & definitely top-notch for a television main-event. But in truth, this bout was far too long & the preceding 15 minutes was rather patchy. There was way too much 1 on 1 action for a bout involving 7 wrestlers, while the entire middle section of the match dragged on with seemingly no purpose but to fill time. The entertainment factor inherent in ladder matches & the very good final 3rd still lifted it to a strong tv match rating though. Match Rating: 7.5
CHRIS JERICHO defeated CHRISTIAN (WWE Unforgiven. September-12, 2004): This match was for the vacant InterContinental Title & we get a nice little promo package on the feud pre-match here. A fairly standard, if sufficiently intense, beginning plays off the storyline well enough, but doesn’t exactly excite. An Unprettier on the floor allows the heel Christian to bring a ladder into the ring & the fun then begins, with both men separately hitting the ladder head first. A nice looking ladder-assisted move looks to injure Christian’s leg, but nothing comes of it as Christian gets his revenge by inflicting similar damage on his opponent. Y2J then halts Christian from climbing by giving him the bird (yep, that’s what did it) & follows up with a nice drop-kick & bulldog involving a ladder. Unfortunately, a lionsault doesn’t find its target & the heel climbs up to the belts, only to be left hanging from the cables when Y2J removes the ladder underneath him.
The 2 then take turns in climbing, including the pre-requisite top of the ladder Walls of Jericho & a couple of very awkward falls. Christian finally brings in a 2nd taller ladder, but he gets a modified face-buster off of it & Y2J earns the victory at the 22 minute mark. Solidly put together & well enough performed, this started off slowly but did play off the storyline fairly well. While it did contain some dangerous moments, it seemed to be a little lacking in the excitement factor & was too predictable at times. But at the end of the day, I couldn't fault either performer too much at all. Yes, there were a few faults, but they put on an entertaining & intense match for all the fans. That's pretty much all we can ask. Match Rating: 8
DESSERT
’No Way Out’ Predictions
RIC FLAIR vs MR. KENNEDY: I’m guessing this will be the opener for the night, but with 2 Elimination Chambers & 2 World Title matches on the card, don’t be surprised if one of those 4 big matches comes up first for spacing reasons. There really isn’t much more I can add here to my comments from last month concerning the poor mini-feud between Flair & MVP. The Kennedy feud has probably been put together a little better, but once more it hasn’t been in such a way to get fans too involved & really believe that WWE may pull the pin early & give KK the win here. I expect this bout to be similar to the Royal Rumble opener & as many people will think the same thing, this could be an opportunity for Kennedy to one-up a colleague with just as much of a future as himself. Winner… Ric Flair
CHAVO GUERRERO vs CM PUNK for the ECW Title: After guitar shenanigans & drownings this feud continues here on pay-per-view. And we all know what occurs when ECW Title matches get a gig on ppv, don’t we? They get short-changed time-wise & are usually booked terribly. Let’s hope that doesn’t occur here. But even if it doesn’t, what can we seriously expect out of this match? Well, a title change would be nice. But while I did predict such a thing if the match existed at The Royal Rumble, I have now changed my mind. It just seems to me that WWE may be going with Chavo to lead ECW for a while. Winner… Chavo Guerrero
THE UNDERTAKER vs BATISTA vs FINLAY vs MVP vs THE GREAT KHALI vs BIG DADDY V in an Elimination Chamber Match for the #1 Contendership to the World HeavyWeight Title: I’m guessing this will be the first of the Chamber matches of the night as it contains less star power than Raw’s version & it simply belongs to the SmackDown brand which is always treated like the ugly sister. While many people feel it is a bad move to have 2 of these Chamber matches on the 1 ppv, I actually have no issues with it in theory… At least for tryout purposes anyway. However, I can’t say I care too much for this particular bout. One of Big Daddy V & Khali simply wasn’t needed, while the initial interest in seeing MVP in such a bout will likely wear off quick. Finlay is Finlay, while there are only 2 potential winners amongst the 6 competitors. Could WWE pull off a surprise & have Batista come out on top? It’s unlikely for mine. Winner… The Undertaker
EDGE vs REY MYSTERIO for the World HeavyWeight Title: Davey checks what city this event is being held at… Ok, it’s not New York or in Canada, so WWE should be able to book this more normally as at least 50% of the fans in attendance should be cheering on the face challenger. If that is indeed the case, then we may just get ourselves an exciting match, where if the terrific finish of last month’s bout is even close to being replicated, fans will be able to become super involved in it. Ok, now that I have that out of the way, I actually fear that WWE will hold back on the booking of this match due to 3 other bouts on this card probably taking priority over it. I really hope this isn’t the case as these 2 are unlikely to meet again for a while, while I think most will admit that these 2 could perform something very special if given the opportunity to. As for the result, it is an understatement to state that Edge is a short-priced favorite. Winner… Edge
RANDY ORTON vs JOHN CENA for the WWE Championship: Along with the ECW Title match, this may be the most unpredictable bout of the night. Although I do find it interesting how some fans are approaching this & actually disagree with me. That is, a lot of fans are adamant that Cena will emerge victorious here. I am not as confident of that result as most because I feel there is sufficient time to change things up somehow between this ppv & WrestleMania. This fact also allows for there to be some kind of a non-clean finish here & that is what I am predicting. I suppose how this match falls depends on what you think will be the main-event of WrestleMania 24 & I’m going to go against history & predict a triple-threat match. The best way to do this for mine is to have Cena win the match, but Orton retain the title… Which means that Cena wins here by disqualification. Not only will the match quality be interesting here, but so will the match duration seeing as though Cena has returned early from injury. Winner… John Cena
TRIPLE H vs SHAWN MICHAELS vs CHRIS JERICHO vs JBL vs JEFF HARDY vs UMAGA in an Elimination Chamber Match for the #1 Contendership to the WWE Championship: At least this chamber match has a number of potential winners, even if it would mean a rather unpredictable WrestleMania 24 main-event. I mean, technically all but Umaga have some sort of a shot of winning here, even if realistically Triple H is the obvious choice. In fact, I think it’s fair to state that I would be thoroughly surprised if anyone but Triple H won this match. At the very least, this will be competitive. And despite the lack of size as compared to the SmackDown match, I think it will be just as grueling & brutal. What I am most interested in here is how Jeff Hardy is used. Despite not being a fan of singles face vs face matches, I have no issue with such situations when multi-man matches like this exist & I think it will be fascinating to see how Jeff is mixed with HHH, HBK & Y2J. Winner… Triple H
Ok, so there is ‘No Way Out’ as has been announced thus far. It will be interesting to see if WWE squeeze in another match & it is difficult to tell if they will or not. My guess is that they will stretch out the big 4 matches (can you imagine the entrance times) as much as possible to only leave room for a possible promo and/or interview on top of the 6 matches. On paper, I have to say that the card looks good from a wrestling standpoint as not since last year’s WrestleMania could you say that 1 card has had 4 bigger matches on it than this. However, I can see some people not thinking as highly on the card as me simply due to the lack of unpredictability regarding the 6 matches on offer. Hopefully, that won’t dampen the effect of the matches come the night too significantly.
260 down & who the hell knows how many to go! It’s been a while since I wrote a DVD Review & this seemed as if it took an eternity to write (not to mention the 6 hours it took to watch). But I hope this was almost a refreshing change. Maybe hold off on any feedback for the DVD until I have completed it next week. But if you have any thoughts on the ‘No Way Out’ ppv, then fire away. 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=159
Next Wednesday I will predictably have my ‘No Way Out’ review in addition to the 2nd part of my ‘Ladder Match DVD review. 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. 2002-2008
Exclusive To LordsOfPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com
***DIRECT LINK*** MUST SEE GALLERY OF 2008! Extreme Expose's BROOKE ADAMS - AMAZING!
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