Monday, April 25, 2011

4/26/11 Raw - live

And here we are live for this year's WWE Draft. The show directly starts with a battle royal for the first draft pick with ten men from Smackdown and ten men form Raw in the ring.

The problem with this things is always that you just can't concentrate on something when there are twenty men brawling in a ring that just about fits them all. It's not any better today, but at least the red and blue shirts help to distinguish who belongs to which team. Speculation has it that either John Cena, Randy Orton or both will go to Smackdown by the way, while Beth Phoenix and Alberto Del Rio could be in for Raw.

After the comercial it's three on four with four Raw men in there until The Big Show eliminates Santio Marella and Mayson Ryan get's Cody Rhodes out. Daniel Bryan is next. The final four are two of each Brand with The Big Show and Kofi Kingston in for Smackdown and Evan Bourne and Mason Ryan for Raw. Bourne and Kingston have some nice action on the rope with Kofi nearly throwing Bourne out of the ring who manages to avoid thouching the floor with his feet. In the end Big Show get's the better of the High Flyer however, and see ya Evan Bourne. It's two on one after that and Maosn Ryan is send flying out of the ring next - that is the win for team Smackdown.

Draft pick from Raw to Smackdown: JOHN CENA!

John friggin' Cena was just drafted to Smackdown! What the fuck?! The world just turned upside down! He talks about being on Raw and how he will win the WWE Title on Extreme Rules and brimg it back to Smackdown. Miz interrupts and him and says that that won't happen and after he wins at the PPV he really won't see Cena again, what get's him some cheers from the crowd.

Next we actually get a video package of R-Truth's hell turn, that I just couldn't bring myself to watch last week. It's loong and we see a replay pf Truth blowing smoke into John Morrisons face. He comes out - without music! - and half the crowd actually cheeres for him before he tells them to shut up. There is a nice, loud, long "What?" chant when R-Truth talks about how Morrison wronged him and they either hate him or they're really annoyed of him (okay it's the latter, because the "What?"s are on again).

I honestly have no idea what the man talked about for like 15 minutes, but that was the longest "What?" chant I've ever heard in my live. Oh, and the announcers weren't speaking. Absolute silence feven from Cole.

Then suddenly - thank the Heavens above - John Morrison comes out to end this tragedy. He attacks R-Truth from behind before they are separated by security only for Morrison to jump Truth again seconds later. I don't know if that makes John Morrison a heel too, and the audience seems unsure too - did we really need that segment? I doubt it.

The Diva's match is up next with Eva Torres for Raw vs. Layla for Smackdown. The show the LayCool issues from last Friday again before the match starts - did Layla always wear that grey, dark blue glitter stuff? Anyway, there is Cole to interrupt the match saying that he has to go warm up. Eve wins somehow while no one is paying attention and Layla starts to beat up on Michelle McCool afterwards. This seems very very strange and very very rushed to me. But that's the downside of 2 hour Raw, I guess.

Draft pick from Smackdown to Raw: REY MYSTERIO!

Seriosuly, what is going on here tonight? Did someone whack Vince McMahon over the head with a steel chair prior to the show?

Anyway because of less time for this Draft there's actually less backstage/comdey stuff and more matches. Next up is Kofi Kingston for Smackdown vs. Sheamus for Raw. They too don't get much time, probably under five minutes, with Kofi picking up the win after a series of kicks.

Draft pick from Raw to Smackdown: RANDY ORTON!

Okay, now you definitely know that rosters won't stay that way. There is no chance in hell that both Cena and Orton, who are the main guys of the WWE, will stay on Smackdown permanently.

After commercial we have Jim Ross vs. Michael Cole - JR just doesn't belong in a ring ...Cole doesn't either, though. Swagger and The King are in both men's respective corners and Cole really is doing the despiceable heel here. The audience eats it up but this still can't be considered a wrestling match - the Diva's are miles ahead of this, and that really says something.

Of course Swagger get's involved for Michael Cole which leads in the disqualification of Cole. After that the heels team up on JR and ...no ...Cole whipps Jim Ross with his belt until Jerry Lawler breaks it up and this time it is Cole eating the belt - I don't have to mention that the crowd loves this. Ross busted Michael Coles lip by the way, good work JR!

The GM buzzes in 1:10 into the show and makes their Extreme Rules match a "Country Whipping Match", whatever this is.

We get a replay of the "New Nexus" attacking Randy Orton on last weeks Raw. It's Randy Orton vs. Doplh Ziggler who I actually confused him for Cody Rhodes at first glance because he just looks like any other guy now. Sad, but what can you do? Anyway, Orton wins and secures Smackdown to Draft picks - when exactly was Ziggler traded to Raw by the way? ...no, I don't expect an answer.

The Draft starts on the titantron but is interrupted by CM Punk who says that he is more important than the Draft - I can't argue with that. The Orotn vs. Punk match on Sunday is a Last Man Standing match and CM Punk says that he will beat the Viper to the point where he won't be able to answer the ten count. In return Randy says that he will miss Raw but won't miss having to listen to CM Punk's rambling. He will beat Punk into until he is unconscious, sleeping and then he will be the last man standing.

Draft picks from Raw to Smackdown: MARKY HENRY and SIN CARA!

Another match for two draft picks is Intercontinental Champion Wade Barret vs. Rey Mysterio. Of course it is short but in the end it looked like Barrett really fucked up his timing for the 619 setup. I'm not sure, but it just looked off.

Draft picks from Smackdown to Raw: BIG SHOW and ALBERTO DEL RIO!

Teddy Long announces the final match fo the night with is a three on three tag team match between Raw and Smackdown. The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk vs. Christian, Mark Henry and John Cena.

The Miz is in the ring with Aley Riley to start the match while CM Punk and Alberto del Rio both get their own entrances. Del Rio of course comes in some shining, expensive looking black car (I don't think it is a German one, probably a Maserati ...I don't know, I don't care) and I like how CM Punk makes the little devils horns on the ramp. After that Christian, Mark Henry and John Cena come out for Smackdown, Miz and Cena get in the ring to start things off and we go right to commercial.

Back in the ring we have Cena and CM Punk in there right before Cena tag in Mark Henry who tags in Christian shortly after. There are lot of tag, especially form the heel/Raw team when the beat down Christian. If counted right Miz, Punk and Del Rio tagged six times before Christian finally manages to get some good offense on Alberto Del Rio which leads to a double hot tag that bring Miz and Cena in again.

Then, out of nowhere, Mark Henry first attacks John Cena and then Christian, brining down his team members down and allowing The Miz to hit teh Skull Crushing Finale on Cena for the Raw win. This leads us to the last pick of the night and that really isn't a surprising one because pretty much anyone predicted it on twitter already...

Draft pick from Smackdown to Raw: JOHN CENA!

Yeah, John Cena is back on Raw without ever having been on Smackdown and he clears the house to show the rest of the red barnd how is boss. The Miz has the bad luck of being the one to take the inevitable beating, aka a Five Knuckle Shuffle from John Cena. We end the show with Cena standing in the middle of the ring alne and celebrating that he is back on Raw. How lame.

Question of the night: With Alberto del Rio on Raw, does this mean that Christian will win the World Heavyweight Championship? ...I hope so.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Undertakers Streak at Wrestlemania 2.0

More than a half year ago I wrote a (not so) little piece about Taker's Streak at Wrestlemania and since it's that time of the year again that article has been the most watched enterie of this blog for the better part of the last two months. Since half a year is a decade in wrestling however the post isn't really up to date anymore, so I decided to again do a little something on the legendary Streak on the brink of Wrestlemania XXVII.

When I wrote that last article The Undertakers match with Shawn Michaels was still pretty fresh in my mind, actually both of them were. Even to this day this hasn't changed, because Wrestlemania 26 was the first one I really experienced as a fan and therefore every other one that is to come will have to live up to it - or to the 'Taker vs. HBK match, to be precise. So can any future match in the Streak top what we had at the last two Manias? Hell no.

But, honestly, it doesn't have to. What Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker had was one of a kind, you cannot copy the emotional rollercoster they put the fans (no, I will not utter the bad U-word. Ever.) through, if only because it will be hard to find a man that will be as good an opponent to 'Taker as good ol' HBK was. The WWE can try though, and they obviously do as we can see form the Undertaker vs. Triple H match - I mean that as a compliment.


First of all you have to give Vince McMahon and the company credits for getting anyone interested in a match between a guy that hasn't wrestled since Bragging Rights last year and another who wasn't on the active roster since Extreme Rules last year. That is more than five months since 'Takers last match and close to a year for Triple H. Just think about that for a minute.

Now of course 'Taker vs. HHH isn't perfect - it will never even scratch at the matches Hunters buddy HBK had with The Undertaker - but you have to work with what you have and in that regart it was possibly the best choice to make.

Half a year back I listed four possible opponents for 'Taker to face to make the Streak 20-0 next year: John Cena, Triple H, Chris Jericho and Kane. Shortly after that we got the dreaded feud between Kane and Undertaker again and Kane proved with is amazing mic-work that this doesn't have to be as boring as we thought it would be - but also eliminated a possible match at Wrestlemania 27 with it, because we all knew that the WWE wouldn't drag this feud out for so many months. Chris Jericho is now on hiatus for only God knows how long, what leaves John Cena and Triple H.

If I have to guess John Cena will be Undertakers final opponent for the 20-0 next year before 'Taker retires for good from wrestling, but that's another twelve months into the future which means that there isn't a guarantee for anything yet. Triple H however is the not so distant future as in 1 day and 1 hour until Wrestlemania 27 so even the WWE has no way of cancelling the match now ;-)


Will The Undertaker vs. Triple H - The Phenom vs. The Game - be a good match? That obviously depends on how you define a good match. Will he have spots never seen in a ring before, "Oh my God!" moments that will never be forgotton or a bout that will have us staring with our mouths agape because the in-ring quality of the match is that amazing? Most likely not. Yes, I don't doubt for a moment that as to veterans they will have a rather good match, but it won't be that match, the one everyone can't stop talking about the next day because of how great it was like we experienced with Taker vs. HBK ...well, it doesn't have to be.

No one expects wonders from this match-up like they did last year and the year before, and in a way that removes a big bit of pressure from both men. They will still give their best to make this match worth every dollar people spend on it, but it is probably nice to know for them that they are not in the main spot and have to make the impossible possible, so to speak.

An important point is that Undertaker and Triple H can make up for a possible lack of in-ring action with the vibe they created around the match. The build of this feud admittedly wasn't that great until last Monday, but together with Shawn Michaels they managed to get a lot of the fans interested in a match that practically no one really cared about up until then. Now we have the possibility of HBK playing a role in what will happen tomorrow and even if that chance isn't big it is still there and that is all that matters. With that and the fact that people now care how this match will run down the chance we'll be well entertained is very good right now.

Of course The Undertaker will win against Triple H, but let's be realistic: does anyone really expect anything else, especially after HBK lost twice? I don't think so, but I also don't think that we can't enjoy it nonetheless. In matches like this one - were neither guy really has to lose anything and no title is on the line - we can just lean back and enjoy the ride, so to speak... and if nothing else that is what counts at Wrestlemania.