WWE Smackdown sees Edge steal top spot
May 10th, 2008Finally, the new sensation, and the Smackdown review has come back to Wrestlers Ramblings! Brought to you by yours truly the Sensational1.
Last week Vicky crossed the line in the minds of fans, and many in the wrestling community, when she stripped The Undertaker of the title. The Undertaker however, will have an opportunity at Judgment day to reclaim his gold. Last night though, was about finding him an opponent, and the “championship chase” began. There was to be five qualifying matches, ending in an over the top tournament to decide the overall winner.
We start things off with Matt Hardy vs. CM Punk. A solid match, which saw a surprisingly steady, but exciting pace, as both men moved from counter into counter. These two seem to mesh well together, but in the end Mat got the quick roll up and the win…MVP and Finlay were up next. A strictly technical match, which displayed a lot of grappling, and submission attempts. I have to say it was nice to see a traditional style wrestling match. MVP focused on Finlay’s arm, and controlled the first part of the contest. Finlay would later target MVP’s leg, and try to rip and twist him into submission. Finlay would then hit a back body slam, both men’s shoulder’s were on the mat for the three count however, resulting in a draw.
Natalya vs. Kelly Kelly was actually a pretty evenly matched bout. Just kidding it was a total squash. Natalya slapped on the sharp shooter to pick up the win… John Morison took it to Batista in their qualifying match, not only doing well against the animal, but dominating most of the match. Predictably, Batista earned the victory at the end…Vladimir Kozlov took on a local talent, this wasn’t so much a match, as it was more like an execution. I don’t know about you, but the whole too serious for theme music, no nonsense thing isn’t working for the Sensational1. What ever happened to the “I love double double E” guy?…Chavo took on Kane in a qualifying match. And though he, and at one point his body guard worked over the big red machines leg, it wasn’t enough to keep the big man down. Kane got another victory over the Guerrero.
The Big Show demolished Tommy dreamer in the final qualifying match. The ECW original fought with everything he had, but one huge choke slam from Show left Dreamer on dream-street…Six men enter the over the top challenge, for the chance to face Taker. Matt Hardy is the first to go, being dropped by his rival MVP. The Fighting Irishmen wails on everyone with his weapon of choice, but is tossed out on his ear anyway by Kane. MVP takes himself out with his own momentum, he is followed closely by Kane. Leaving only Batista and the Big show. Batista manages to drop the giant with a head-scissors, but is victory isn’t long lived. Vicky rolls out and announces Edge had just been medically cleared and will face Batista for the chance to go to Judgment day. Batista struggles to get to his feet, but never makes it back into the ring, because the ultimate opportunist spears him on to the floor and is declared the winner. Not that I wanted to see Batista vs. The Undertaker again, but one can’t help but feel a little cheated.
This was an above average show, refreshingly it was less talk more action all night. Those are my thoughts, but the Sensational1 would like to hear yours. Thoughts, comments, and constructive criticisms are all welcome. I want to know just how much sensation you can handle.
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RVD, Punk, Tajiri all casulties of WWE “style”
April 25th, 2008
Welcome back to another edition of ‘Under the Mat’. Sadly The Tazz couldn’t be here tonight so you’re stuck with me. I have a secret that I would like to now share with all of you fine folks out there. Lean in close…..A little closer…..Let me whisper in your ear…… The WWE is not the only wrestling organization out there….Shhhhh….Don’t tell anyone.
That’s right boys and girls…I, the Richster….Have discovered that there is a conspiracy of the highest order to take any REAL, talented wrestler, any wrestler that could possibly bring another company to the forefront, and buy him off to come work for Vince McMahon. However that’s not the worst of it. The worst part is that in order to work for Vince you have to water down your act accordingly. We can’t have you possible future superstars coming in and showing up the big boys. Let’s look at this a little closer shall we?
Rob Van Dam: One of the most amazing performers to ever grace the ECW stage…And that’s saying something when you’re in a group of daredevils like Sabu, Tazz, Tajiri, and Jerry Lynn. Rob, you come on over and join the WWE…We’ll make you a superstar…but you gotta cut out all that crazy stuff you do, especially outside of the ring. Also, lighten up your kicks and punches. The boys are whining that you’re actually….Making contact and it hurts. No wonder RVD got busted with the weed again. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Mr. Mal wants all you kids out there to realize that in no way do we condone marijuna use for any reason. The views expressed here are the thoughts of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the website as a whole or its administration.)
Tajiri: As mentioned previously, another of the ECW Originals that ended up in the WWE. They had no clue what to do with this man. So they buried him. What better way to water a guy down then to not bother to give him much offense. Now for the biggie.
CM Punk: I recently purchased The Best of CM Punk Vol 2 & 3. Both of them from ROH. After watching the first MATCH on this tape I realized just how watered down Vince had made CM Punk. First thing to go…The Pepsi Plunge. A Top Rope Pedigree? What are you nuts? Triple H can’t even get off the mat let alone do a move like that! Can’t be showing up the son in law…So that’s out. How about the Shining Wizard? Nope…that’s a flashy move, you can’t be flashy, would make Randy Orton look like even more like a clueless idiot.
Ok Welcome to Chicago? Nope, that involves the double underhook, looks like you’re going for a pedigree…That’s Triple H ground again. So basically it’s go out and punch people in the face, kick em in the gut, then lift em over my head and drop em face first across my knee? You bet! Now go get em!
All of the Superstars I listed above have shown in ‘other feds’ (You know, the ones that Vince wants you to believe doesn’t exist) that they are FULL of talent and could put on one heck of a show…But they can’t….Because that would make Vince’s established have to put forth some ‘effort’ in the ring. Then again…You ever wonder why the fans in ECW and ROH and other places not named the WWE are so rabid and into their brand? It’s because the people who work for those companies give 110 percent EVERY NIGHT! The fans see that and they LOVE them for it! The WWE fans sees their favorite superstar mail it in and show their support by changing the channel. Remember back when the WWE was bringing in a 6 rating? Yeah go compare the work ethic then to what you see weekly from the WWE now. No wonder they’re lucky to draw a 4 rating on Monday night.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
-Thank you Vince McMahon for making Monday night worth watching. The return of the King of the Ring was truly the most entertained I’ve been in quite a while when watching WWE programming. From start to finish the card was solid…Ok with the exception of the dead weight in the ring called Khali, but since he didn’t advance and he actually contributed to the storyline with the abuse he put on Finlay, it’s a forgivable offense. The other thing that KOTR established was to finally put a push on CM Punk. The kid won the Money in the Bank and then lost the next night to Jericho. I was almost positive they were going to drop him to Jericho again and actually cheered when they didn’t!
-That leads to my next thought. William Regal…Oh how I have missed your ability to play the arrogant heel. You spent most of your GM life as a Tweener or Face but to watch you come out with that sneer on your lips and the hate in your eyes well it just brought back memories of a young, hungry Lord Stephen Regal and it made me enjoy booing you. I sincerely hope the push continues and we see you in the ring more often!
-Final note. This Saturday night I get to see the first ever HWA (Heartland Wrestling Alliance) Event here in town. This will be a first non WWE card to come to town since ECW closed it’s doors and I’m really looking forward to getting back to that small crowd feel. To make the show even better the main event is ROH Champion Nigel McGuinness taking on Chris Hero! So it’s an HWA event with an ROH main! How rocking is that! I’ll also get to see my very first barbed wire hardcore match in person and can’t wait! I’ll be sure to share my thoughts and feelings on the show next week…..
Until then….I’m crawling back under the mat.
-R.M. Carroll
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