You people are outstanding! I have gotten a load of e-mails from people all wanting to take part in my first ever fan participation column, in a tribute to the first ever fan participation PPV, WWE’s Taboo Tuesday. You’re all great, and I especially appreciated those professing their love for my column. It’s really great to know people read these reads I throw together to form sentences, which later form paragraphs, which THEN form my column each week. Without you guys, I wouldn’t have a reason to write. Thanks again, and for those who missed the last column, there’s still time before my weekend column. E-mail me at carl_macqueen@ns.sympatico.ca with all your answers to the questions I pose in my last column. Simply look in the columns section and find it, if you wish to participate. Deadline is Saturday night at 11:59pm EST. The next day, I will be working on my column. I will really try hard to include at least one answer from everyone. I would hate to leave anyone left out, because it’s virtually impossible to include everyone. We’ll see what happens anyway.
On to Raw, live from Manchester itself. Like a lot of people said, good show with a great crowd. I guess being a WWE fan, I get used to the mix of wrestling and talking, so seeing a nearly entire show of wrestling, it was a little weird for me. I am used to it for PPVs, but not for Raw. Anyway, the show itself was good, but not outstanding. Let’s just get right into the mix of the night.
Trish vs. Stacy For a minute there, I really thought they would give Stacy the title, which I would have been upset over. She’s attractive, obviously, but she’s not a wrestler. Her fluke wins her just that, flukes. I think it’s inevitable that maybe someday she’ll win it, even for a short time. How many times can WWE rehash the same old routine? Trish, Victoria, Jazz, Nidia, Gail Kim, and back to Victoria again.
What I’m curious to see is the battle royal. I expect a new champion will emerge from this rumble, and my money is on either Stacy or Victoria, although I think Stacy’s chance was in Manchester. Obviously anything can happen, but I don’t see Trish still coming off that PPV with the title, since the heel divas are more dominant than the face ones, and they need their chance.
Homeboy Regal and Oafish Eugene There, a brand new comic book, set in jolly old… Manchester. The reception William Regal received was PHENOMENAL! And he gave back the same enthusiasm. It was like seeing The Rock of Manchester. He was on top of his game. If he was that damn enthusiastic back in North America, I guarantee he would be a more popular face than he is. Which brings me to a concern of mine. Everyone seems to think William Regal is getting a heel turn soon. That’s fine, but I’ve seen the heel Regal for long enough before. Let’s see if he gains popularity first. I don’t think he should be a heel again, just yet. I love heel Regal, but babyface Regal is also quite an enjoyable character.
I was a little upset with the false finish to this match. I was out of my seat, and literally cheering with the rest of the crowd, when William Regal and Eugene won the titles, and I was blown away. I was not that excited since Shelton Benjamin’s debut on Raw, when he defeated Triple H. It really ticks me that they stress how there’s NO such thing as instant replay to reverse a decision, and then they reverse a decision. Hands were raised, belts were exchanged, Lillian said their names. In my mind, Regal and Eugene won, no matter how they won. The fans were almost as mad as I was. Good match, but it would have felt right if Regal and Eugene kept the titles. La Resistance is closing in one five months as champion. One respectable feat.
Snitsky is cruisin’ for a bruisin’ I see lots of compliments for Snitsky all across the board, and the guy seems pretty dominant over Kane for now, but I just cannot get into his mic skills. He doesn’t come off like a big and strong guy at all. More like a small guy with an even smaller voice. I’ll give him credit for appearing to have quite a few screws loose. As for the match stipulation, will anyone not vote for the lead pipe? Obviously, but not in a majority.
Then, what appears to be a completely pointless match (Hurricane and Rosey vs. Stevie Richards and Val Venis? Please.), Kane storms out and destroys everyone, especially poor Val Venis. Then again, I’m sick of seeing Val Venis every week. So, is Kane the babyface now? He got some cheers on Monday night. I cannot tell who they’re pushing as the heel or as the face at all, and I like a little decisiveness in my wrestling. It should be decided who is good and who is bad. Although, both seem like they get a bad streak in them right now.
The Nature Boy, Ric Flair! This implies that Flair was once THE man, and actually wrestled, and didn’t just do his falls to the mat, his fling onto the ropes, and the chops. I remember him back in 1992, and he was doing the same thing, for the most part. There’s no knocking Ric on the mic, because he rocks the mic all the time. But, this whole legend business has brought out the debater in me. I mean, even calling Mick Foley a glorified stuntman? Any regular reader knows my stance on that, and I’ll refresh your memory. If Foley is a glorified stuntman, Flair is a glorified actor. His accusations make no sense.
Now, I want to get to this Manchester crowd just a bit more. Remember the travesty of Summerslam? I am a Canadian, and I still live here, and no doubt will live here for all my life. But, seeing the fans cheer the heels, and boo the faces was really sad. I could easily see that most of the fans just wanted to do that, to shake things up. They probably ruined any chance of a stronger Eugene push, in my eyes. The Manchester crowd backed Flair entirely. You could hear strong boos for Orton, mainly because he is against Flair. I hope that doesn’t affect his push very much, because he seems to be gaining popularity each week.
I am psyched to see Flair vs. Orton. I think it would be the best plan to give Orton the win here, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Flair pull off a surprise win, thanks to Batista or Hunter (or both). So, what are those silly choices for a match stipulation? Something like a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Is the other a Submission only match? Please don’t jump down my throat for not knowing. I’m not getting payed for this, I do this on top of a ton of work for school, on top of my own personal life, and still only being 18 years of age. You can’t blame someone if he doesn’t want to go check, so he can keep the ball moving on his already late column. Anyway, another awesome promo for their match at Taboo Tuesday.
Jericho/Rhyno/Christian/Tomko I have to confess that I HATE seeing Jericho/Christian/Tomko feud STILL going. It is the most boring thing to see week in and week out. So, is Rhyno suddenly added to the mix? Where’s Tajiri? These men are all talented (well, maybe except Tomko), so give them all something new. I hate seeing this same stuff every week. It’s been going on for almost a year, and I hate it with a passion now. They try and find new ways to build this Jericho/Christian feud, by adding new guys, but get down to it and it’s the same deal every single week. I didn’t hate it as much before, but I’m running out of things to write now on this entire feud. I can’t even comment on the match, because I didn’t put my heart into watching it.
Another six-man tag Here’s another thing I am tiring of pretty quickly. These damn six man tag team matches. I loved them every once in a while, not EVERY week. I do love the idea of a Triple Threat match next week, though. I also loved the backstage bit between HBK, Benoit and Edge. I love HBK when he’s doing these segments, because he seems like a naturally funny guy, and of course, he’s great in the ring. Never been a fan of that silly theme song, but aside from that, he’s great. I think I like him just as much as I did a few years ago, when he was in his prime.
Pushing Edge as a face one week and a heel the next is absolute crap. I hate this so much. I know they’re pushing for this BIG full-on heel turn soon, but it will be anti-climactic. I just hate this flip-flopping from Edge. After last week’s prominent interview, where he sold me on him being the most deserving, I was pumped to see him face Triple H at Taboo Tuesday. Now, I KNOW he won’t, and it really sucks. The big question is will fans want to see Triple H and HBK again, or Triple H and Benoit again.
After a really great match, it ends when HBK sets up for the Sweet Chin Music (boy, that crowd was shaking the entire building), and Edge takes himself in, setting himself up for a pedigree, before HBK lets loose on the band, and clocks Hunter in the face. Edge rolls up Hunter for the win, and takes all the credit in the world. They all get on the mic, and get in each other’s faces, until Edge spears both Benoit and HBK, which would make a perfect set-up for a future feud, but right now, we need to see build-up for who will take on Hunter. Of the three, I would like to see Benoit get it over HBK, since we can rule out Edge.
A fairly solid show. An almost PPV, if you will, with all the wrestling and little talking. Kane is doing a great job going after Snitsky, and I would love to see Kane be a face for a while, but I have the feeling he won’t be pushed that way. Anyway, please check out my last column, and send in your votes on my ten questions. I will be deeply greatful for it, and I hope to hear from all of you.That’s all for tonight. I’ll try really hard to have my Smackdown column up by tomorrow or Saturday, and if not, I’ll have to skip it in favor of my big weekend column. I hope you all enjoyed this week’s column, even if it’s a little shorter than usual. As always, I am THE Mr. X, saying Rock the vote! Buh-bye.
Copyright © 2005; TheWrestlingVoice.com & Douglas Nunnally.
All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
| What Did You Think About WWE Backlash 2008? |
|
|