For me, New Years Revolution really ran the gamut. It was the good, the bad, and the ugly of pay-per-views. The first contest, which was for the Tag Team Championship, pitted the champs Eugene and William Regal against Christian and Tyson Tomko. I liked Eugene’s new wrestling attire, it made him seem, I don’t know, a bit more serious, perhaps? More importantly, this match was a good one. I really liked it, and also thought it was a fine way to open up the show. All four men did a good job in this entertaining match. Unfortunately, Eugene injured his knee during the match, but was able to hop over for the roll-up and three count anyway. It was obvious that he was in pain, and apparently he will be out of action for several months. Just what they do with the Tag Team Championship now, I don’t know, but beyond that, what a shame for Eugene.
Just in case one knee injury wasn’t enough, in the very next match, which had Lita defending her Women’s title against Trish Stratus, Lita also blew out her knee. She tore her ACL and will require surgery, putting her back on the shelf for about eight months. Trish is the new Women’s Champion, and I can’t help but wonder if they changed the outcome in midstream. It was obvious the match was shortened after we were shown the replay several times of Lita landing outside the ring and seeing her knee twist – sick! I was rather surprised to see Trish working on that injured knee during the short match, and speaking from unfortunate experience, I’m amazed that Lita stood the pain. This tough young lady had just gotten her stride back after being out with a broken neck, and now another long time out. I hope this doesn’t play too much with her head.
In a very strange Intercontinental Championship Match, Shelton Benjamin defended his title against Maven. Benjamin kept the belt, but certainly not by wrestling to victory. Maven stalled, yapped, complained, and generally just wasted time. At first I thought this was brought about due to the shortened Women’s match. But when Maven finally entered the ring he was pinned immediately. As Shelton was walking up the ramp Maven yelled that he wanted the match to be re-started, and at that point I felt we would now see an actual match. Wrong! Benjamin came back, roll-up for the three, done deal. I was pretty disappointed by this point. This was one match that I thought would be an entertaining, if not good one, and this scenario was not what I expected. I have read that the WWE has been disappointed of late with the performances of both men at house shows and they felt the match would not be strong. So they opted for this? God knows the fans have witnessed matches that really stunk up the ring in the past. Why not let these two youngsters have a go at it anyway? It couldn’t have been any worse than…
Jerry Lawler facing Mohammed Hassan. Come on now. This fact was made more clear with JR being in Lawler’s corner, because there was no television announcer. You could really hear the silence, and later, the “Boring” chants. Of course Hassan won – he had to. Why spend all that time on building up his character as a real ass, only to have him get beat? But this was a match that would have been weak on regular television, never mind a PPV. (I have said before however, that whenever I hear “Boring” I feel really bad for those athletes involved. Like them or not, good match or not, they are out there just like everyone else, trying to do their jobs. Besides being able to withstand pain, a professional wrestler must have a thick skin as well.)
It was at 6:15 (yeah, 6:15 for match five of six) that two giants walked out for the grudge match – Kane versus Gene Snitsky. Actually, I did not think of Snitsky as being quite that big, but he and Kane were very close to being the same size, so I guess another seven-footer is born. Anyway, it was impressive to see Kane tombstone Snitsky, but as far as I was concerned there was nothing special otherwise. Jonathon Coachman came out to help JR with announcing duties for this match. My question: why no Coach for the prior match? That might have helped things a little bit, anyway.
All three announcers took verbal part in the main event, the Elimination Chamber Match to determine who would be the World Heavyweight Champion. Eric Bischoff came out to introduce the match, which for some reason seemed kind of funny to me, and then the Special Guest Referee Shawn Michaels came down. Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit started things off, then Triple H came out, followed by Edge, then Randy Orton. Of course, Batista was last out. Edge was eliminated first, thanks to the Sweet Chin Music by HBK after Edge made physical contact with him. Benoit was eliminated next, followed by Y2J. It was now that I felt certain that Orton would be next, leading to that anticipated face-off between Batista and HHH, but no – Randy covers Batista for the three count! I had been enjoying the match up until now, but I am sorry to say that it quickly became predictable (well, more predictable) and dull. Batista once again had 3H’s back, as he helped Triple H win the match. As HHH was parading around atop Batista’s shoulders I felt let down. Not that I was surprised by the result mind you, but as the WWE logo faded away so did whatever positive feelings I had about New Years Revolution in general. Unfortunately, it was just another show.
The good – well, sad to say, not much. The Tag Team Championship match fits here. I thought it was a very well executed one. The first part of the Elimination Chamber match could go in this category also, as it did have a lot of action and as usual every one gave their all.
The bad – first, the Benjamin / Maven debacle. Let them wrestle, pull them off the card, but this decision made everybody losers. And of course the match between Lawler and Hassan. Also, the choice to have no announcer during that match, in my opinion.
The ugly – Eugene’s injury. One couldn’t tell exactly what happened in the replay, but if anyone doubted he was in real pain just listen to him yell “No!” as they are helping him out of the ring. Lita’s injury, and unlike Eugene’s this one looked wicked in the replay. Also, and I didn’t mention it earlier, a cameraman really took a big hit when Batista threw Y2J into him. When they showed it from another angle it looked bad.
So, that’s my New Years Revolution conception, for what it’s worth. I’m sure many of you felt differently, and I’d like to hear your views. Until then,
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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