Wow, am I glad to be back! I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that I was out of town for over two weeks and got hurt on top of that. Each night I thought I’d write something up, but the 16- hour days got to me. In fact, I had not even watched wrestling since before the Royal Rumble until I got home. OK, my problem, so enough of that.
After reading about the shows I missed, I picked out what sounded like what would be good watching, and spent the past couple of days playing catch-up. I loved the shows from Tokyo, Japan. The fans were super, which was to be expected. Their knowledge of the business is vast and their enthusiasm great, although they express themselves quite differently then most other fans do. This was evident from the start, and what a great beginning it was – a Submission Match between Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. Each time the wrestlers took a moment from the action to look each other in the eye the crowd applauded, and at the end of the match there was a lot more applause, often in rhythm. This continued throughout Raw and also during SmackDown!; acknowledgement of a job well done. It was quite refreshing, and what a great match this was. I also thought it was a cool thing that William Regal and Tajiri once again became Tag Team Champions, allowing Tajiri to be a hero in Tokyo. This was a classy thing to do and I was glad to see it.
I know I said that I didn’t watch any wrestling while I was gone, but that was not exactly true. If it can be counted, I was channel-surfing before falling asleep and came across John Bradshaw Layfield having a drunken conversation with an inflatable Godzilla. All I could think of was when some people ask me why I watch this thing called professional wrestling – as I looked at the scene in the ring I had absolutely no idea! I was then informed by either Tazz or Michael Cole, that JBL had been hit with a tranquilizer gun. OK, that explained it, but I was too tired to see how it all turned out, and actually didn’t watch much of that when I came home, either.
On Tuesday I ordered TNA’s Against All Odds. What another good show they put on for us! Their roster is so strong, and if there is one thing that TNA gives us, it is pure wrestling. If anyone is having wrestling withdrawals, tune in. While this company does not have the deep pockets necessary to compete on the same level with the WWE, they give top matches with excellent talent, and they are a joy to watch. Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles are as good as it gets, and I could name just about everyone else who is on the roster and sing their praises. This organization deserves as much PR as it can get.
SmackDown! will present No Way Out this coming Sunday. One can surely go broke ordering all these pay-per-views, and I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll spring for this one, if I stay home to watch. On paper the card seems as if it could be pretty good. The Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship will pit the champ JBL against The Big Show. This certainly won’t be a fast-paced match, but I believe that these two big men will give it their all, as is customary. The barbed wire adds a new element of danger and I’m sure the blood will flow. I am rather interested to see how they will handle that aspect of the match.
If action is what is wanted, there is the Six-Man Cruiserweight Elimination Championship Match. Funaki will have to defend his title against five other cruiserweights, those being Chavo Guerrero, Paul London, Shannon Moore, Spike Dudley and Akio. I love the cruiserweights, so I expect this one to be good. All are strong, and I especially like London here. I’m also curious to see how strong Moore will be as he faces off against this talent.
Then there is the Number One Contender Tournament Final to see who will challenge for the WWE title at Wrestlemania. This contest will be between Kurt Angle and John Cena, and I expect this one to be strong. Cena, while he still has a way to go, continues to improve, and what can I say about Angle? Kurt is as good as there is, although there is the unfortunate question of his health. Even so, he has never held back and I don’t expect to see that happen here. This should be a good battle, and as I go down the matches I’m getting closer to ordering this one with each paragraph.
Tag Team Champions the Basham Brothers will take on Rey Mysterio and his recent partner of choice, Eddie Guerrero. Mysterio and Guerrero should put on one hell of a show, elevating the Bashams in the process. Yet another match that I think has good possibilities.
Finally, with regard to the PPV, the Undertaker takes on Luther Reigns. ‘Taker seems to have to wrestle ‘madmen’ recently, but no matter. Reigns is another big man and I’m curious to see how he handles himself when paired off with The Dead Man. I am guessing that this match-up will be better than the one UT had with Heidenreich, or maybe I’m just hoping that will be the case, in the wrestling sense of the word. And with the Undertaker on the show, the deal is closing – I think I’m going to watch.
One other thing that I want to mention, and that is the tease we are being given about Batista moving over to SmackDown!. What title will he go for? Will he chose to stay on Raw and face his Evolution partner Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, or go for the WWE gold offered on Thursday’s show? The cat has already been let out of the bag, but I’m going to act as if that hasn’t happened and give you my opinion, one that I have had all along. It has to be Batista against Trips. This has been building for a while now, and Wrestlemania is the place to settle things. Not to mention that I think this will be a super contest. Besides, since I’ll be in attendance in April, this is the match I want to see – so there!
I hope you all enjoy No Way Out, and again, it’s great to be back. Keep up the communication!
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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