No, Stone Cold did not make an appearance during the Supershow, but at the end of the night the show was like its namesake – super, to be sure. I was really excited to be there and I want to share my experience with you. This show was advertised as sold out, and this was as close to a full house as I’ve seen in a very long time at a WWE event. That was really cool, and with few exceptions the crowd stayed hot for the entire night. For those of you who don’t know, we got to see both Raw and SmackDown! on one night for the price of one show. Since the WWE had to fly out to do shows beginning Thursday in Korea and Japan the SmackDown! show, normally taped on Tuesday, had to be done on Monday night as well. How great this was for wrestling fans. I would bet that certain things had been already sent overseas, such as some of the pyrotechnics. There was not as much pryo as usual, and some of the entrances for the athletes were completely sans pryo. That was OK with us. Our seats were really good, first row over the floor and near the entrance ramp, which also meant that any pryo used was exceptionally loud and also quite hot. Fun, none the less.
This was also the last night of the draft, and both shows had to reveal their final two draft picks. Edge and Gene Snitsky had to face Kane and his partner, who we didn’t see at first since Edge took off, with Kane in hot pursuit. That prompted Eric Bischoff to change the match to a one-on-one with Snitsky battling the number four draft choice – The Big Show. This was bad news for Gene, as his loss to Show came pretty quickly.
The fans were thrilled when the fifth and final draft selection was the guest on Carlito’s Cabana. Enter Rob Van Dam – Mr. Monday Night is back on Raw! While he still is not wrestling, although he did get beat up by Carlito, RVD will be a good addition to Raw, I think. He claimed that Raw will become more extreme (he was wearing an ECW T-shirt, by the way), and I hope that is the case. Not crazy mind you, but he could definitely spice things up. While it doesn’t seem as if the WWE is that keen on giving RVD a huge push they have to be smart enough to see that the fans love him, and it certainly pays to use him as best they can. About the set for the cabana, it’s pretty funny watching about a dozen men running to the ring with fake palm trees, basket of apples, hammock, rug, and the like, then having to make a mad dash back with all the props. I read that someone thought that it took forever to get the stuff out of the ring. I don’t agree with that, as they worked as fast as they could. People around me were trying to get the crew to give them an apple, but to no avail.
A face-off of sorts early in the evening led to a match later on between Kurt Angle and Ric Flair, and I thought this was a really good match. Flair looks a lot better than he did the last time I saw him in person, and he worked really hard in their match. This was a good one, and when I watched it back on television it came across well there, too. Angle was the eventual winner, but I thought that both men did a super job to give us a really good match.
Chris Jericho, Christian, and Tyson Tomko were to have a three-way tag match between the WWE Champion John Cena and two partners of his choice. Y2J, et al, were convinced that he had no friends on Raw to call on, and Bischoff informed them that if that was the case then the match would turn into a Handicap Match, much to the delight of that trio. Not so, because early on Shawn Michaels popped into the picture saying that he was on board with Cena, and that the third mystery person was on the 405 en route to the Pond. There were many people near me that were pretty convinced that The Rock would be that person, myself and the other two people that came with me, Dean and Linda, sharing in that opinion. It seems that each time Rocky has made a surprise appearance we have been there too, and this just set up the same way in our minds.
Before we were to find that out though, we were treated to the Diva search girls. Yes, I’m being sarcastic. This is such a total waste, and all the red-blooded guys around us seemed to feel the same way. It seemed more of a waste of time when I watched it back on TV. Well, I didn’t really watch it back. I spent a moment and then fast-forwarded until it was over. The WWE got rid of Tough Enough, yet did a second year of Diva search garbage. Have any of the Divas that they kept (God only knows why) done anything? Christy is a joke, and the others are worse. Any woman wrestler in the organization has every right to feel, well, crapped on. If this is what they want, fine, but get rid of the Woman’s Championship if it is going to be that meaningless. Either that or let the legitimate female athletes do their thing.
And before I leave that subject, if you taped Raw, go back and watch the faces of Cena and HBK during the ‘interview’ by Maria about John finding a partner. Their reactions were absolutely priceless.
OK, main event of the night, with Jericho, Christian and Tomko against Cena, HBK and…who would it be? When Michaels announced the name the crowd went absolutely nuts! The Immortal Hulk Hogan came down to a thunderous ovation, which went on for many minutes. This was a great way to end Raw, as this was a really good match. The fans were really up for this contest, and when it seemed to them that it had been long enough without Hulk involved in the match, chants of “Hogan, Hogan!” could be heard throughout the Pond. Ultimately, it was he who won the match for his team, which I’m certain surprised no one. Both after his introduction and at the conclusion of the match, Cena and HBK showed Hogan great respect, and whether it was actually the way they feel or not, it came across as legit and was great to see. I was glad that this was seen on television as well, as often things get cut off when they run overtime.
I would have gone home happy after this, but we were only half way done. Let me say now that if you haven’t read any spoilers about SmackDown! and want to be surprised with the show, you might want to wait before reading this portion of my column. As soon as Raw was over, many, and I do mean many, WWE crew members were getting rid of the Raw set and getting the SmackDown! set up and ready to go. They were really rushing to get everything done. One of the event staff guys said that the show was supposed to be over at 8:00, and instead it ended at 8:09. Those nine minutes overtime really made the crew have to hustle. Most of the crew also had ECW T-shirts. I don’t know why that caught my attention, but it did. Anyway, many people thought that there would be a bit of a break between shows and went for food, bathroom breaks, and the like. No way! Within just a very few minutes the show started with Muhammad Hassan and Daivari. They whined a bit, then Undertaker made his trademark entrance. Boy, would I have been upset if I’d missed that!
‘Taker let his actions speak for him, as he gave Hassan and Daivari a beatdown and then made his departure. I just love the way, with the ‘smoke’ around his feet, that it doesn’t look as if he is walking, but just gliding along. They do a good job with that. We had a perfect view of the curtain that they made their entrances and exits from, and The Dead Man walked straight ahead, then made a military-type turn through the curtain. I don’t know if he always does that, but it looked cool. And he’ll be back later for the Six-Man Elimination Match for the WWE title.
Cruiserweight Champion Paul London went toe to toe with Chavo Guerrero for the belt, but it went to a no contest. During the match we kept hearing these engine or machine noises coming from the back, and couldn’t figure out what it was. Well, a short time into the match out came the Mexicools (Super Crazy, Juvatud and Psicosis) on three rideable lawnmowers. I think it was Psicosis that kept coming close to rear ending the person in front of him. It was pretty funny. The three of them made their way to the ring and gave a promo, even though you couldn’t understand a lot of it. Let me say this. Those three men are extremely talented athletes, and I would love to get to see them work in the WWE. I can only hope and pray that this Mexicool gimmick gets shelved very soon, and they are just allowed to do what they do best. I would hate for them to get stuck in the quagmire of mediocrity when they have so much to offer the company, and then be lost forever. They are way too good for that.
We then had a very weird segment that had Eddie Guerrero talking about Rey Mysterio’s son, and then showing a videotape of him in a playground. Guerrero approached the boy, offering him candy. This elicited “Michael Jackson” chants from those behind me, and it wasn’t too long before that could be heard elsewhere in the building. When Eddie asked the boy to sit on his lap the chants started again. I’m curious to find out if that can be heard on television. Mysterio came down as Guerrero spoke about a secret that he wanted to tell everyone. He taunted Rey about not wanting it to come out. The more serious Guerrero got the louder the “Michael Jackson” chants got. I can only imagine how much that pi**ed Eddie off. When he left Rey was acting very upset and despondent, teasing us with an explanation but not ultimately not so much as speaking. This brought a lot of boos from the crowd. I can only assume that the story line will be that the boy called Dominick will turn out to be Eddie’s and not Rey’s, but I really felt sorry for both these men. Why is this disturbing story line even necessary? Isn’t their work ethic enough? I just don’t get it!
The main event in a show that was seriously lacking in wrestling action was a super one, and worth waiting for. The winner of this match would become the Champion. We had some good contenders in here; Undertaker, Booker T, Chris Benoit, Hassan, and JBL (who came out in his limo as is his norm, and was right in front of us when he got out of the car – great photo opportunities!) The sixth man was to be The Big Show, but since he was drafted by Raw Theodore Long came out to reveal his fourth pick – Christian! He would be added to the mix here and round out the match. I thought that this would be the chance for UT to have one last title run, but no. He pounded on Hassan once again, and then used the chair, getting himself eliminated. Damn! Muhammad also staggered to the back, and then there were four. This was quite a long match, and while they all did their thing, Booker was the real workhorse out of those remaining. He worked his ass off. He had some good offensive work, as well as spending quite a bit of time being beat up by the other three. But when the dust cleared, it was JBL who was the winner. I was pretty disappointed with this. I do like him, but thought that this was a good opportunity to start a swing towards another’s direction.
Wait! Long is back out with good news and bad news for Bradshaw. The bad news is that he’s not the champ. The good news is that he is the number one contender for the title HUH?!? Well, let him introduce us to his last draft pick – BATISTA, with the World Heavyweight Championship with him! The ovation was pretty much on par with Hogan’s, and I was right there with them. How cool was this? Batista basked in the glory of the cheers for awhile, smiling and posing in all four corners of the ring. Before the Hell in a Cell match, it had been said that regardless of the outcome it would be over between he and Triple H. And so it will be, at least for awhile. It is definitely time for Batista to try his wings in a new environment, and I’m looking forward to it.
There is probably more I could say about the show, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten quite a bit. All I am sure of is that I had one hell of a good time. I wouldn’t be surprised if the WWE doesn’t do a few more of these Supershows. Just two suggestions – because I just know they pay attention to what I have to say. Yeah, right! Anyway, if they do a repeat of these, don’t do them often, please. And if they do more, keep the prices the same as they are now. That was half the draw of last Monday night, I’m sure. It was a great way to see two shows for the price of one, and that is appealing.
That’s all for now, but this was long enough, wasn’t it?
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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