DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – Cyber Sunday Review, Young vs Old + WWE (PG) Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 2:06 AM EST
THE WRESTLING MENU #286
Welcome one and all to the 286th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.
It has been another busy week for yours truly. In fact, it seems every week is a busy one nowadays. During this past one, I spent many hours familiarizing myself with a certain former pink-haired lady who has recently released an album. While I am certain that this is not the music of type for many of my readers (ie: it doesn’t go “jun, jun, growl”), I’ve really never stopped to think about what music my readership actually listens to in the first place. It is probably more mixed than even I realize.
Anyway, since it has only just been released in many countries around the world, if you would like to read my review of ‘Funhouse’ by Pink, you may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=27687
Of course, this is a wrestling column, so let’s get on with the PG Rated Cyberatic Old & New Show
APPETIZERS
TNA’s “Young vs Old” Angle
Apologies if the angle which TNA are currently highlighting should be called something other than ‘Young vs Old’, but that seemed to be the most simplistic thing for me to label it. Whether positively or negatively, the angle has received a rather large reaction of late around the Internet Wrestling Community, so I thought it was worth a mention here in this very column. The strange thing is that even those who do not watch TNA are letting their opinions known on this subject. Thankfully, for a reason I can’t quite pin-point, I have been semi-regularly watching TNA of late.
Those wrestling fans that have been around for a decade or so will recall that this storyline of sorts has been used in the past by WCW. There was literally a stable called ‘The New Blood’ from memory and they simply rebelled against all the older established wrestlers. Of course, being WCW, it was always going to be nigh on impossible to book the angle appropriately since they had made their living off of giving their veterans everything they wanted (except Ric Flair when he wanted a day off).
Can TNA handle the angle better…??? Possibly, since they may have learnt from the mistakes WCW made. Plus, it is arguable that (some of) the likes of Jarrett (because he works behind the scenes), Angle, Foley, Booker and Sting are more than happy to put the younger stars over to a certain extent. Yet, I am still not a fan of the idea when all is said and done. There are probably 2 main reasons for this.
Surprise surprise, but the first reason for my dislike of the angle is the blurring of the heel/face lines. Yeah, yeah, I’m old-school, Bite me. If the angle is taken to the nth degree, then if you are old, you should theoretically be placed into the stable of old guys (I think they called it the Main Event Mafia). Of course, this doesn’t matter if you are a face or heel at the time, which will eventually lead to turns just for the sake of it. If an old guy is not placed into the group (EG: Jarrett & Foley), then it just seems like TNA are half-a$$ing it and you can just bet that a portion of fans will not take the angle seriously because of that.
The second reason why I am not a huge fan of this idea is because it pretty much dominates each and every show. In order for it to work, it sort of has to be a huge part of proceedings. But that is not a good thing at all, because anything else happening at the time is practically deemed of less significance. And realistically, anything else happening at the time should be dragged into the angle anyway. For example; Jay Lethal is wrestling Sonjay Dutt. They are both young guys, so logically, Kevin Nash should come out and power-bomb both of them. So it’s confusing and not right no matter which way you look at it.
And that is the one thing I really want to stress about this type of angle; It CANNOT be done correctly. I am certain there is a crap-load of fans, column-writers and e-fedders around right now saying “Davey, I will show you how it should be booked…” (Please don’t send me emails… I beg you). Most will have the young guys winning the war so to speak. But I really cannot see how such an angle can be booked to reasonably make everyone look good. You do not want guys like Kurt Angle & Booker T looking weak. Whether people want to admit it or not, they are too important to TNA. Yet, to properly put over the young guys, they may have to look weak.
The more I think about it, the more I think this angle is destined for failure. I much prefer 1 on 1 feuds… Or smaller stables that have a reason to be feuding with each other. Even if this is kept to no more than a dozen wrestlers in total, it still doesn’t work as the concept of the angle should realistically involve everyone. I wonder if Vince McMahon has thought about doing such an angle in WWE over the years & simply thinks the same as I do. Then again, there was The J.O.B Squad. LOL!
MAIN
’Cyber Sunday’ 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: Unforgiven ‘08) 60-64: Worth A Watch. [C+] (EG: Great American Bash ’08) 65-69: Good event that was worth the money. [B] (EG: Night Of Champions '08) 70-74: Very good. [B+] (EG: No Mercy '08) 75-79: Make sure you add this ppv to your video or dvd collection. [A] (EG: Royal Rumble '08) 80+: Make sure that the video or DVD is locked in a safe & cannot be erased. Memorable. [A+]
REY MYSTERIO defeated KANE in a No Holds Barred Match: The vote was evenly split between the 3 choices with NHB getting the decision with 39% of the vote. It is almost immediately to the outside where Rey attacks with a kendo stick, before Kane gains control in the ring & uses a cable. Kane controls minutes on end with his better than usual big man offense, but never really took advantage of the no rules situation. In fact, Rey has to wake him up with an eye-poke and off an angered Kane goes to get a chair. Rey uses it first though and then does the same when steel steps are brought in. Multiple chair shots follow, but a 619 attempt is countered into a choke-slam attempt, which is then subsequently countered into a head-scissors. A 619 then delivers the pinfall after 10 minutes. This was a solid, but rather forgettable, opener that used the No Holds Barred stipulation well enough in a psychological sense, but not necessarily from an entertainment perspective. Match Rating: 6.5
MATT HARDY defeated EVAN BOURNE to Retain the ECW Title: Bourne wins the vote by a landslide with 69%. Do that many people really watch ECW? Some nice sequences begin the bout, with Bourne ultimately getting the better of them with something flashy in order to let the crowd get to know who he is. Of course, this is a face vs face bout, so the crowd don’t know what to do. Matt adjusts his offense to that of a big man, hitting clotheslines, body-slams & even a modified abdominal stretch. Bourne then predictably counters a splash mountain attempt with a leg-scissors, but subsequently runs into 2 side-effects, both of which get near-falls for Matt. A beautiful whisper in the wind-like moonsault gets the same result for Bourne, as does a top-rope something-or-other
The challenger then misses his shooting star press finisher, but still gets a 2.5 count with a super false finish following a twist of fate counter. It then is twist of fate time and Matt retains after 11 minutes of entertaining action. I am glad it was allowed that time as it really did take a while to get involved in this due to the face vs face dynamic and resultant lack of crowd reaction. Matt still played the crash test dummy a little too much for my liking, but I guess there was a reason for it & the unpredictability of the result in the final couple of minutes made this more than a very good undercard bout. Match Rating: 7.5
JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ defeated CRYME TYME: This tag match option surprisingly got home with 38% of the vote (probably thwarting a planned title change), while I cannot believe 27% of people voted for the mixed tag bout. The faces dominate the first 4 minutes with some entertaining offense that includes Shad throwing his partner over the top-rope on to their opponents. The heels target Shad’s knee for a while and then go about dismantling JTG while expertly drawing heel heat from the crowd. The hot tag eventually comes to Shad, who initially cleans house before the match breaks down. Of course, this suits the cheating heels, who eventually double-team their way to victory as Morrison hits his Moonlight Drive finisher at the 10 minute mark. This tag bout had its moments when it looked crisp & entertaining, while also looking disjointed & messy at other times. Decent filler. Match Rating: 6.5
THE HONKY TONK MAN defeated SANTINO MARELLA by Disqualification in a Match for the InterContinental Title: In what was the closest vote of the night, Honky snuck home with 35% of the vote here. HTM looks in half-decent ring shape too, as he does some pre-match mic work & dancing. Santino responds with some of his own humorous moves as well as a cheap shot. Nothing much happens in the bout proper until Beth Phoenix trips Honky up after just 1 minute & Santino loses by DQ. Marella’s exit is then blocked by both Goldust & Piper as all 3 veterans get in their shots on the IC Champ. I can’t exactly pass this but it did serve its purpose and thankfully did not last too long. Match Rating: 4
THE UNDERTAKER defeated THE BIG SHOW in a Last Man Standing Match: SmackDown GM Vicki Guerrero screws up announcing the match stipulation (LMS won with 49% of the vote), before The Undertaker does what he rarely does and enters first… Of course, The Big Show then grins his way to the ring. Lots of fists to begin with as the action heads to ringside where ‘Taker scores with a big chair-shot to the head. TBS gets the better of the action back in the ring though and the first 10 count begins at just the 3 minute mark. The dead man once more uses a chair to his advantage with a shot to his opponent’s throat at ringside that scores an 8 count. It is then standard big man action for minutes on end as both act as if they have been wrestling for an hour when we are really just 8 minutes in. The phenom does hit an impressive DDT for a 9 count, before the action once more heads to ringside where Show hits a monitor shot & then choke-slams ‘Taker through an announce table for a 9.99 count.
Back in the ring, a seemingly drained Undertaker scores a 6 count with another DDT, but then has Old-School countered into a choke-slam. A knockout punch then scores another 9 count for The Big Show and a subsequent chair-shot seems to get the job done. But The Undertaker goes from unconscious to full of life in the span of 1 second as he unrealistically finds enough energy to lock on his choke submission for the victory after 20 minutes. I have never been a fan of Last Man Standing matches and am beginning to think they can only work as long main-event bouts, because this initially seemed rushed. You even had the feeling that the live crowd wanted the match to finish quick smart as it seemed to drag on and on. Just like last month though, these 2 didn’t deliver a stinker because they plugged away admirably. But when compared to the most recent LMS Matches which have headlined pay-per-views, this seemed average. Match Rating: 6.5
DIVAS COSTUME CONTEST Won By Mickie James: I have decided to rate this as a segment since there were many separate approximately 2 minute segments throughout the night & then an in-ring segment which I didn’t properly time as I nodded off during it. With regards to the divas and their costumes, only 3 or 4 stood out. Funnily enough, the eventual winner – Mickie James- wasn’t really one of them. Candice, Maria, Eve & Maryse were the standouts for mine, but it was much of a muchness. A poor excuse for a fight then broke out after the result was announced. Segment Rating: 2.5
TRIPLE H defeated JEFF HARDY to Retain the WWE Championship: In what seems like a realistic voting result, Jeff gets 57% of the vote as compared to 38% for the triple-threat match. The purple-haired one begins well enough, although both men get in their shots and both a pedigree & twist of fate are teased. HHH sends Jeff flying off the top-rope to the floor and then slows things down back in the ring with a crossface-like move being thrown into the equation. At ringside, Hardy flings his body at H and then follows up with 2 whisper in the winds back in the ring for a 2 count. A series of counters to finishers then get Jeff another 2 count and he gets the same result for a 3rd time with a Twist of Fate.
Jeff then lands a swanton (cover him you fool), but he decides to go for a second & Triple H counters that by getting his knees up. Following some brief action at ringside, Hardy appears to head up for a 3rd Swanton, but Triple H scores with a pedigree for the victory after 16 minutes. When Jeff got voted in, I had this sudden feeling that an upset was on the cards (it must have been the alcohol I was indulging in at the time), but it was not to be. With that result, one can’t help but get the feeling that a triple-threat match may have been more appropriate in retrospect. Of course, we still had a very good match here. It got a little ho-hum in the 2hd quarter, but other than that & the feeling that Triple H has turned into Super H, this was involving, entertaining & well-performed. Match Rating: 8
BATISTA defeated CHRIS JERICHO with ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin as Guest Referee to Win the World HeavyWeight Title: You know, just once I want one of the voting options to attack another immediately after the results are announced. Jot that one down for 2009 WWE. Y2J feigns getting counted out early in the proceedings, but Stone Cold gets on the mic and says Jericho will lose the title on a countout. It isn’t long until the champ targets Batista’s knee and he even gets to lock on the Walls Of Jericho before we hit the 10 minute mark. Big Dave eventually gets to the ropes & Austin forcibly assists in breaking the hold. The challenger then looks for his finisher, but Y2J holds on to the ropes in order to counter. Jericho then side-steps a spear attempt, only to be caught by a top-rope shoulder-block for a 2 count.
A big ref bump then occurs when Batista accidentally shoulder-blocks Austin. Jericho then hits the code-breaker & HBK runs down for the slowest 2 count of all time (I’m telling you, he should have super-kicked Austin backstage). Batista then hits a spear for the apparent finish, but JBL (oh yeah, I forgot about him…. Easy mistake) emerges to break up the count. Here comes Orton (followed by Hogan, Nash & the rest of the nWo), who attacks Austin & then counts to 2 after a Y2J title head-shot to Batista. Hi Stone Cold… Stunner to Orton and somewhere in the background, a spine-buster & Batista Bomb land for the 1-2-3 giving us a new champ after 17 minutes of action. Could you tell from my recap that this match, and especially its extended finishing sequence, was overbooked (even without the nWo…??? Oh well, it was still successful from an entertainment perspective and rather involving throughout even if all the countout stuff early on meant a rather slow beginning for what eventually would only be a 17 minute main-event. I just got the feeling that WWE didn’t quite have full confidence with these 2 in the ring. Match Rating: 7.5
PPV RATING (49/80) = 61
Looking at the key, I have basically given the 2008 version of ‘Cyber Sunday’ a 'C+' grade & said that it was ‘worth a watch'. Yeah, I think that is pretty much right on. Many fans had low expectations of this show going in, but it definitely wasn’t anything too bad. Of course, it still wasn’t anything too special either and nowhere near as good as ‘No Mercy’. The night actually started well, especially with the very good Hardy vs Bourne match. But things sort of got derailed along the way and the 2 main-events, while being entertaining, did not quite knock the ball out of the park unfortunately.
DESSERT
WWE: Rated PG
Where would I be without my readers…??? Seriously, I’d probably post about half of the columns that I do if it was not for readers giving me ideas on certain topics. The thing is, if someone goes out of their way to do give me a topic idea, it rarely works for some reason. It is when people simply send me feedback on a topic I wrote (or possibly a related news item) and then branch off, where I receive the best ideas that get my mind flowing on a natural thought progression. With many of these instances, I even sit on the ideas for some time, as I genuinely believe that the best topics to write about do not necessarily have to be all that timely either.
In this instance, thanks goes to loyal & longtime reader Glenn S for his contribution a few months back. Glenn cleverly linked 2 separate news items that (from memory) occurred a couple of months apart, ultimately resulting in the following topic. The 2 news items were (a) Vince McMahon wanting to go towards a more child-friendly Parental Guidance-oriented product, and (b) Domino (remember he of Deuce & Domino fame) getting cut.
Some may forget that there was a rumor swirling around the internet at the time that what got Domino released from WWE was a tape he submitted to the company where he was trialing a new character. I think it is fair to say that when Deuce & Domino broke up, most fans knew that it would eventually be Deuce who they pushed. Yes, we are still waiting for that push, but at least he still has a job with WWE. Domino knew he couldn’t sit back & wait for WWE to push him. He had to force their hand… One way or the other.
Without seeing it, or knowing exactly what the tape I speak of consisted of, the rumors were strong that Domino was attempting to perform a variation on the ‘Loose Cannon’ Brian Pillman character. Of course, that was the same character that was waving around a gun on live television one Monday Night. Well, that’s not very PG-Rated, is it…??? It definitely does not sound like Vince McMahon’s idea of family-friendly entertainment anyway. Of course, the fact that he allowed it to happen a decade ago seems to be irrelevant, but anyway…!!!
The question to be asked here is whether or not Vince McMahon may be going over the top in rejecting any character, storyline or feud that even looks like hinting at controversy? As a fan of WWE, I really hope this is not the case as you could imagine that there would be some terrific scenarios in amongst such ideas. Even if the presentation of these ideas have to be twisted, tweaked & re-worked, then I would think that 99% of these characters & storylines could still be presentable in a PG Rated format. I recall Glenn using the terrific example of the nWo in WCW. I mean, they raised hell week in and out, but they arguably never really crossed the line all that often, if ever.
But Glenn took his thoughts on this topic one step further on his email and this is where I really think he hit the nail on the head. Is all of this PG rated sensibility of late having a seriously adverse effect on heels in professional wrestling…??? Think about it… Heels have to rely so much more on edginess & controversy than faces. If you take away a number of avenues to create that certain edginess, it becomes difficult for heels to truly make their characters successful enough for Vince. This is especially the case with newer & less experienced wrestlers, as those already with their foot in the door (Jericho, Edge, etc…) already have the fanbase and heat to continue on in their roles.
There are a number of arguably detrimental effects which flow on from all of this. I think you know where I am heading firstly and that is my current pet hate of the over-saturation of face vs face matches. If there simply aren’t enough quality heels around, then Vince will simply go to the face vs face well and rely on the likes of Shawn Michaels or Triple H to play a pseudo-heel role.
The second result of all this that stands out to me is the (for want of a better term) so-called ‘cool heel’. How many heels get cheered nowadays…??? I mean, look at Santino Marella for goodness sake. Half of his promos are that of a face. In the past, he’d be using his accent and mispronunciations for genuine heel purposes. But nowadays, it would probably verge on being racist, so there is no way that Vince could take a chance that it would not pass the tests to earn his shows a PG Rating.
So yeah, this is definitely an interesting topic and one to keep in mind when viewing WWE over the next few weeks or months. For example; When next you see Dibiase & Rhodes perform a heel promo and you think it lacks that certain spark, just cut them some slack because they probably cannot take as cheap a route to generating heel heat as those from the past. And these kids are still young and inexperienced, so I hope no-one is expecting them to come out and just stare at the crowd to extract booing from the live audience. You didn’t think Chris Jericho learnt that one overnight, did you…???
Anyway, thanks again to Glenn S for providing me with this column topic. And let us all hope that WWE is not actually rejecting all things controversial and simply taking such ideas and adjusting them to best get what they can out of them, while still providing a product that is accessible to as many age groups as possible.
Ok, that is #286 in the books. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you like, but please be patient for a reply as I unfortunately still have a backlog to get through from my previous column. Please also note that I tend to reply quicker in the LOP Forums. 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
I literally have no idea when my next column will be. Hell, I’m about to fall asleep as I write this so I can’t think properly. Whenever it will be, 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.
