The SmarK Rant for WWE Cyber Sunday 2008
- The time is almost upon us, as Dungeon of Death: Chris Benoit and the Hart Family Curse comes out this week, and you can get your copy from Amazon NOW. It's apparently already shipping from Chapters as well if you're Canadian, and will be shipping next week for those buying it in the UK. You can also pick it up at all the major bookstores. I might be selling autographed copies as well if there's enough interest. I'm also available for radio show appearances and interviews.
- Live from Phoenix, AZ.
- Your hosts are Michael, Jim, Tazz, King, Matt and Todd.
Rey Mysterio v. Kane
Your cyber-voted stipulation: No holds barred. Did they really expect anyone to waste $1 voting for 2-out-of-3 falls? Rey tries attacking to start and dodges Kane to put him on the floor, then follows with a somersault plancha that misses by a lot. He grabs a kendo stick from under the ring and goes to work on Kane's leg, but Kane boots him down. Rey takes a goofy bump into the post and Kane baseball slides him to work on the ribs, then bends him around the post. That's like a Jack Evans spot. Shot to the post gets two back in the ring. Legdrop gets two. Rey fights up and Kane boots him down for two and then goes to a surfboard as this match is surprisingly shitty after their good one last month. Kane goes to a backbreaker submission until Rey fights out, and the bulldog allows Rey to make the comeback. Enzuigiri sets up the 619, but Kane clotheslines him down instead and gets two. Kane grabs a chair and Rey boots it back at him ala RVD and follows with an Arabian facebuster for two. Rey goes up and Kane slugs him down for two. Kane brings the stairs in, but Rey manages a drop toehold to send Kane into them, and a springboard butt splash gets two. Rey goes back to smashing Kane's leg with the chair, and tries another 619, but Kane counters out to a chokeslam attempt. Rey reverses to a rana, into the 619, and splashes him for the pin at 10:20. They actually put Rey over surprisingly strong here, although the match was pretty dull stuff and didn't take advantage of the stips. Kane looked lethargic and uninterested to me as well. **
ECW World title: Matt Hardy v. Evan Bourne
Landslide win for Bourne, so I guess Matt's campaigning worked. Matt grabs the headlock, but gets dropkicked by Bourne. Evan takes him down into his own headlock, but Matt powers him down with a wristlock for two. Bourne with a rollup for two off that, and a sunset flip gets two. Matt tries the Side Effect, but Bourne gets a SWEET reversal off that for two and kicks him down. Rana, but Matt dumps Bourne and knocks him off the apron. Back in, Hardy follows with a lariat for two. Corner clothesline into a bulldog, but Bourne reverses him into the corner and takes him down with a cross-armbreaker. Matt reverses out and Bourne holds the armbar, then hits him with a great standing moonsault for two. They slug it out and Bourne gets a high kick to put him down, then goes up, but Matt rolls out of the ring and suckers him into trying a quebrada, at which point Matt yanks him down and slams him on the floor. Ah, the cagey vet Matt Hardy, who would have thought it? Back in, Matt gets a yodeling elbow for two. Abdominal stretch as Matt plays the subtle heel to keep Bourne strong as the underdog babyface. Bourne fights out, so Matt clotheslines him down again and follows with a boot to the ribs. Matt tries a Razor's Edge, but Bourne counters out with a rana. Evan fights back with more kicks, but he walks into the Side Effect and Hardy gets two. Another one gets two. Matt goes back up and Evan hits him with a leg lariat on the way down, fighting back with high kicks and a moonsault press for two. Spinkick gets two. Bourne goes up with a flying high knee, and that gets two. I've never actually seen that before. Another spinkick misses and Matt rolls him up for two, using the tights in a nice touch. Bourne with a tilt-a-whirl into an armbar takedown, and he goes up to finish, but Matt slugs him down. Bourne puts him down again and tries the Shooting Star Press, but it misses and KICK WHAM TWIST is reversed into a backslide by Bourne for two, before the Twist ends the dream at 11:03. I daresay I would like to see these two gentlemen engage in honorable fisticuffs at a later date. ***1/4
Cryme Tyme v. Miz & John Morrison
Morrison gives JTG a clean break in the corner to start and grabs a headlock, but JTG elbows him down for two. Miz comes in and gets dropkicked, allowing JTG to whip Shad into Miz with a corner clothesline for two. Shad whiplash slams JTG onto Miz for two. Over to the heel corner where Morrison and Miz do some double-teaming, but Cryme Tyme dumps Morrison and tosses Miz onto him to follow. Shad presses JTG onto them, but sadly doesn't follow with his own dive. Back in, Shad gets two. M&M cut him off with a shot to the knee, however, and Miz goes to work on the leg in the heel corner. Morrison with a half-crab, but Shad powers out, so Miz comes in and legbars him. Shad powers out again it's over to JTG, as he hits Miz with a necksnap and a neckbreaker that's like something out of the Def Jam games. However, Morrison manipulates the ref and JTG is YOUR thug-in-peril. Double gutbuster and heels take over with some choking. Morrison with a boot to the head for two. Miz with a corner clothesline for two. We hit the chinlock as the crowd just isn't getting into this one. Miz tries a catapult, but JTG hits Morrison on the way up and makes the hot tag to Shad. M&M sell like crazy, bumping all over for him, and a forearm shot gets two on Morrison. John dropkicks the knee, however, and gets two. Shad with a spinebuster for two and it's BONZO GONZO, but Miz kicks the knee out and Morrison rolls the dice for the pin at 10:25. This never got out of first gear for whatever reason. **
Intercontinental title: Santino Marella v. Honky Tonk Man
Pretty even split here, although I thought they'd hold off on the Honky Tonk Man payoff until longer into the Honk-A-Meter. And really, hearing Honky's music just shows how lame and generic all the theme music these days has become. Kind of weird seeing Honky getting a babyface reaction and somehow going from running joke into legitimate "greatest champion of all time". They have a dance-off before Santino attacks, and apparently Honky is wrestling with the suit on. Probably best for everyone. Honky works on a headlock to start and pauses to dance, but Beth trips him up for the DQ at 1:05. LAAAAAAAME. Piper and Goldust head out and add a beating to Santino as well. At least they didn't do the rumored payoff of Charlie Haas dressing up as the winning challenger.
- Next Monday, the 800th episode of RAW, which gives them another excuse to do a special three-hour show. Not that it isn’t impressive, but it seems like every few months there's some other special celebration and it just doesn't feel particularly special any more. Especially when they're constantly and insecurely comparing themselves to shows like ER and the Simpsons because they're so hung up on gaining mainstream acceptance.
Undertaker v. Big Show
The stipulation voted in is Last Man Standing, although Vickie announces it as "I Quit" because live TV is not her forte. I'm not generally a fan of this match type, although Taker and Batista had a good one last year so there's always hope. They slug it out on the floor to start and Show tosses Taker into the front row. Taker comes back with a chairshot and a pair of corner clotheslines, but Show puts him down with a clothesline of his own. Show slugs away in the corner and puts Taker down with a headbutt, and a legdrop draws the first count. They fight to the floor again and Taker rams Show's throat into a chair by using the post, which draws an 8 count. Taker gets the legdrop on the apron and they head back in, where Taker slugs away until Show clotheslines him down again. That draws a count of 8. Show fires away and headbutts him into the corner, but Taker slugs back and tries a chokeslam. Really? Show tries his own, but UT reverses him into a DDT for 9. Show removes a turnbuckle, but Taker sends him into it and puts him down with the flying clothesline, that gets 9. Taker charges him, however, and hits the STEEL turnbuckle before bumping to the floor off that. Show pounds away and preps the announce table, but Taker slugs a chair back at Show. Show gives him a weak chokeslam through the table in response, which I think was supposed to have more impact than it ended up having. It sounded more like a thud than a smash. This whole thing has been in slow motion anyway. That gets a 9 count for Show. Back in, Show slowly slugs away, but Taker gets a DDT. He goes old school, but Show chokeslams him to counter and that gets 9. Knockout punch draws the best reaction of the match, but Taker does a zombie situp to recover. A chairshot puts him down again, but Show goes in for the kill and Taker catches him in the Googleplex and chokes him out for the win at 19:22. Boring ass slow motion match, good finish. **1/4
Smackdown World title: HHH v. Jeff Hardy
They were fooling themselves if they were expecting anything other than Hardy to win in a landslide. Kozlov getting an embarrassing 5% is pretty telling, no matter how much they want to do that match. Hardy works the arm to start and HHH reverses to a headlock, but Jeff goes for a Twist early, and HHH counters to a Pedigree attempt before they both back off. Hardy takes him down with an armdrag, but HHH runs him into the corner to break and then shoves him off the top rope. Back in, HHH stomps away and runs him into the post a couple of times, into a rollup for two. Hardy fights back with a lariat and a seated dropkick for two. Hardy with a falcon arrow for two. Corner clothesline, but he charges again and HHH catches him with the spinebuster for two. He follows with the Cerebral Crossface, but Jeff counters into a cradle for two. HHH stomps him out of the ring, but Hardy whips him into the stairs and follows with a flying leg lariat off the stairs. Back in, Jeff gets the Whisper in the Wind for two. Mule kick in the corner gets two. Twist of Fate is reversed by HHH, but Jeff counters again to a rollup for two. HHH tries the Main Event Sleeper, but Hardy reverses to the Twist of Fate for two. Jeff goes up with the swanton, but then tries another one instead of covering, and hits knee. Another shot at the Pedigree, but Hardy shoves him out of the ring and then follows with a pescado that missed by a mile. HHH sells it anyway and they head back in, where Hardy tries again for the swanton, and this time HHH kills him dead with KICK WHAM PEDIGREE to finish at 15:35. They didn't have the mojo going this time quite like they did last time, and I think they've run it one time too many and killed the Jeff Hardy chase. ***1/2 That being said, still a very good match when HHH was able to reel Jeff in and keep him from getting too sloppy.
RAW World title: Chris Jericho v. Batista
Your guest referee: Steve Austin. Well, duh. Jericho gives attitude to everyone and runs away to avoid the consequences, but Austin informs us that Batista will win the title if Jericho walks out. Like the real Steve Austin would ever say something like that. So Jericho heads back in and Batista tosses him around and elbows him down, and a suplex gets two. Jericho dumps him to come back and then dropkicks the knee on the way back in and goes to work on it. Batista fights up and Jericho dropkicks the knee again, then goes to a chinlock. Batista fights up, but Jericho cradles for two and kicks him down again. Batista fights up again and gets a corner clothesline, into a powerslam. He tries the powerbomb, but Jericho reverses to the Walls, forcing Batista to make the ropes. Austin drags Jericho off, and Batista gets a Bossman slam for two. Jericho tries a cross-body, but Batista catches him and tries another powerbomb. Jericho hits the leg to escape and comes off the top, but Batista catches him with a clothesline for two. He goes up and a flying shoulderblock gets two. Batista tries a spinebuster, but Jericho kinda sorta reverses into a DDT. That gets two, although it didn't come off as convincing and I think the crowd was confused. Batista tries a shoulderblock and wipes out Austin, and Jericho gets the codebreaker. Alternate ref Shawn Michaels runs in and gives the world's slowest count in a funny spot, setting up a spear from Batista that gets two. JBL then comes out and gets rid of Michaels to set up the next feud that no one wants to see, and Jericho takes out Batista's knee again. Next run in is Randy Orton, as he takes out Austin and Jericho puts Batista down with the belt for two. Austin recovers, however, and it's KICK WHAM STUNNER for Orton. Spinebuster and demon bomb win the World title for Batista at 17:04. Match actually picked up a lot with all the interference at the end, as these two just don't have the main event chemistry. *** But really, while this would have been fine as the conclusion of a long reign for Jericho to finally get his comeuppance, it just cheapens the title further to have them switch it AGAIN after only two months with Jericho as champion. There's just no direction in the main event.
The Pulse
Business as usual with this show. The fan voting stuff didn't really help or hurt, as it was going to be a pretty middling show no matter what the stips were. Nothing terrible, nothing great, just a thumbs in the middle from here.
Tags: Rants
Goldust looked really old and out of shape last night. It was depressing to see.
So…after getting mocked and treated like a goof for the last few weeks, Jericho jobs the belt clean and basically loses any shot he had at being taken seriously as a main eventer. Unbelievable.
This isn’t like 2001 where he grew an EVIL~! goatee and tried to convince the world that he was a new force to be reckoned with while still spouting the same tired ‘Monday Night Jericho’ schtick. Chris Jericho made a genuine effort to evolve as a performer and a worker and had actual, honest-to-goodness, money-drawing heat for the first tme in ages, AND had a classic feud with HBK which provided some of the best in-ring work and promos we’ve seen in WWE for many months. So of course he gets fed to HHH’s Buddy Dave like yesterday’s leftovers and treated like a joke in the process, because apparently giving Joanie Laurer an accidental potato nearly ten years ago lands you in the doghouse for life.
Have fun feuding with Kofi Kingston, Y2J.
So money-drawing that RAW ratings have been sliding.
I’m going to need you to keep facts out of this discussion.
it’s called Monday Night Football. Happens the same time every year.
And I hardly think Jericho can be blamed for the rest of the crap on Raw.
The ratings are essentially the same as when WWE was pushing DX vs. the Spirit Squad and Randy Orton vs. the World as the top feuds, give or take a tenth or two. It’s not like they were doing 7’s and 8’s before they put the belt on Jericho.
And I meant ‘money-drawing’ in the sense that if you put him in a top slot AND promoted him as a serious threat, he could actually draw some money as a top heel. Granted, that is pure speculation on my part. But apparently WWE won’t do so for whatever reason (or will do the former but not the latter), and thus we’ll never know for sure.
“So…after getting mocked and treated like a goof for the last few weeks, Jericho jobs the belt clean.”
How did he job cleanly? He had Batista beat with a codebreaker and would have won if Batista didn’t knock out Austin. He was then pinned by a bias ref.
The booking of Y2J has been poor though – for whatever reason they didn’t let him do what he’d been doing with Shawn for 4-5 months when he was booked like a beast. In fact, what with Adamle working against him in recent weeks he’s been booked more like a face!
“How did he job cleanly? He had Batista beat with a codebreaker and would have won if Batista didn’t knock out Austin. He was then pinned by a bias ref.”
By current WWE standards, that is a clean win. Besides, it’s not like Austin beat Jericho up and Batista pinned him on the sly.
Really disappointing to see Jericho lose the belt so quickly. I thought they’d let him run with it all the way to Wrestlemania and a probable Wrestlemania main event v John Cena.
Batista as champion is just bleh. I suppose if Cena returns and reprises his feud with Batista it could make for semi-interesting matches but i’m not expecting much from a Batista title reign.
Great comment Scott about Honky Tonk Man’s music. Two things i hate about today’s product are 1) The generic look so many wrestlers have, and 2) The generic music they come out to. Let’s have a few more characters and wacky theme songs!
One thing that makes Cyber Sunday interesting is the fact that it’s one of the few times you really get an insight into what the fans are thinking and what they want to see. The Jeff Hardy vote screams loud and clear just how over he is right now and i too fear that he’s lost one too many PPV title shots.
I actually liked the Big Show v Taker match. Show’s on fire right now and a feud over the title with HHH would make sense right now. I know they’ve fought before but never when Show’s been in such condition.
Shock of the night was definitely Mysterio beating Kane so cleanly. Didn’t see that one coming, especially given the cheap finish to their PPV match last month to protect Kane.
“One thing that makes Cyber Sunday interesting is the fact that it’s one of the few times you really get an insight into what the fans are thinking and what they want to see.”
To a point, but you gotta keep in the mind that the population in this case is people willing to pay to text their WWE PPV preferences. Not exactly a representative cross-section of people who watch and pay for the product, if you ask me.
Not that giving Jeff a run at the top would be a bad financial decision, though he is better suited for the whole chase thing, which has been getting milked for a while now with no payoff.
“Not exactly a representative cross-section of people who watch and pay for the product, if you ask me.”
So, the people who PAID to vote and, assumingly, PAID to watch the PPV aren’t a good representation of people who PAY to watch the product and PAY to acquire merchandise?
I guess that means the IWC, a good portion of which criticizes without watching it or steals it on the internet at a later date, is a better representation of the fanbase in its entirety?
Lol. Well said.
Wow, you sure nailed me! Yeesh, I had that cerebral shelacking coming for sure. Here I was thinking that there might be a reason they only show vote percentages and not vote totals, but I guess you’re right. The cross-sectional data of people who attended that PPV correlates perfectly with the 500 people that texted in their votes. I am just an IWC nerd in the process of writing my fifth fantasy booking monograph in between gripes and Russo name-drops. You also have my buying habits down pat- the last time I gave money to WWE must have been way back in.. Sunday. Insert additional condescending remark aimed at making you feel dumb while making myself feel smart (or should I say smark? tee-hee) here.
Now to steal a phrase that’s becoming vogue among IWCers like myself, go and wipe that sand out of your vagina.
Did I miss anything?
Lol. Well said, as well. (Maybe I should just type that after every post).
I think you both have a point. I’ve been a fan for about 22 years (and boy does typing that seem a little scary), but I guess I’ve never really felt that what I want is generally what the majority of wrestling’s populace wants.
Personally, though I wish Jericho wouldn’t have lost the belt, I can’t be bitter about it. Jericho won the freaking belt again!! Finally!! One feud, and bam!, he’s back in the main event mix. I’m sure he’ll go back down to the mid-card, because he can do something that neither Triple H, Undertaker, Batista, or anyone else in the E can do: elevate about 3 different people at (remember in 03 when he was feuding with HBK, Jeff, Test, Steiner, and teaming with Christian all at the same time? Unreal.) So, if he goes back down, I’ll be bummed not to see him with the belt. However, as a main eventer, you pretty much have to feud with one guy, because your match is what will be selling the ppv. In the mid-card, he can lose cleanly, feud with multiple guys, team with talents who could use a little rub (I’m pulling for London), and still be inserted into a ppv main event without one person asking “What’s he doing there?”
I think Batista gets protected because he needs to be protected. Jericho, for whatever reason, connected with the fans long ago. It doesn’t matter where he is or what he’s doing. He’ll still be over, and he’ll still get the angle over.
“elevate about 3 different people at…”
The word is “once.”
Once. Very sorry.
Pains me to say it, but I guess you are right. As much as Jericho rocked it long and hard at the top of the card, he could function as so much more by just doing what he does and laying down for some people who could use it.
And as much again as it pains me to say this (I am writhing as I type this) the character Batista is a… errm.. commodity and risks being reduced to a huge joke if he was pushed down the card to feud with the Santinos of the world in order to give them the rub. I would love to see him repackaged somehow (though just how is a big question mark), but I didn’t realize just how old the guy is so I guess he won’t be on top forever.
I just wanted the honeymoon to last longer than it did.
The Jericho loss is disappointing.
The presence of Jeff Hardy in another title match is disappointing. He and CM Punk should form tag team of non-threatening weenie, possibly gay types.
I agree with you about Jericho.
But the thing about Punk, really? I get Jeff Hardy, but I think Punk is a badass. Of course, that may be based more on my love of his ROH stuff…
I just can’t get into Punk. He’s small, his offence is silly and he just looks like a wuss. His finisher looks ridiculous especially when he puts it on a bigger guy, it’s just so awkward looking to hoist a guy over your head and raise your leg at the same.
I really tried to give him a chance when they gave him the title but not only did he not win me over but my girlfriend absolutely refuses to watch him, she’s convinced that she could beat him up herself. That and she thinks it’s uber-lame that he has a Pepsi tattoo and I’m inclined to agree.
I’ve never seen any ROH so I don’t know about that. It WAS a low blow to group him with Hardy though, no ones offence is a bad as Jeff Hardy’s.
Apparently believable offense is not a requisite for success, as Jeffy Hardy is the most over guy in professional wrestling at the moment.
As for size believability, take a gander at any MMA fight featuring Urijah Faber or Miguel Torres, 145lbs and 135lbs respectively, and tell me they wouldn’t fuck up most of the wrestling roster, despite size differences.
Big people always beat up little people. That’s the way it is. I’m betting E’s girlfriend is about 300 lbs so she’s pretty clearly an ass-kicking machine.
Sounds like someone has a little crush on Punk.
Absolutely there are smaller guys that are tough as nails and big guys that are muscle bound glass jaws BUT an MMA fight is legit so even if you see a little weak looking guy, if he gets in the ring (or whatever) and demonstrates the opposite then he has just proven you wrong. Wrestling is fixed so perception is everything and my perception of Punk is that he and his moveset are weak looking. And he’s not a great mic guy either.
He’s a fine mid to lower card guy, could hold the ECW title, tag titles or even as high as an IC or US run if he was booked properly but I can’t buy him as any more than that.
Strictly MOHO of course.
The popularity of Jeff Hardy is one of the signs that professional wrestling is leaving me behind I think. Or the other way around.
You really believe that MMA is legit?
You’re an idiot.
..or a little crush on me seeing as you can’t seem to let a post go by without unsheathing that mighty wit of yours.
Fair enough argument. Although I don’t really adhere to the size matters mindset in wrestling, I agree that perception is reality in this business. At least they use the speed and high-risk factors to play up the big man-little man matches.
I just like promoting Faber and Torres whenever I can. Any MMA fans should do themselves a faour and check out WEC, probably the most exciting fights in all of MMA.
Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are both more popular than Hardy.
O/T, but I figured Scott & others wouldn’t want to let this go unmentioned.
RIP, SD.
I’m not bothered by the music nowadays, but I do feel that this bizarre “pecking order” created by the presence of lyrics to one’s entrance music has been lost.
It probably wasn’t true in all cases, but it seemed to me that most of the main event players (or soon to be main event players) all got songs with lyrics to them. (This line of thinking goes back to the mid-millenium years). Cena, Triple H, Batista, Orton, Big Show, Benoit, & Eddie all had lyrics to their songs. It wasn’t mandatory for the upper card at all (UT & Kane come to mind), but it seemed to distinguish them from some of the other talent. In fact, I figured that Edge & Christian both had a bright future with the E when they each got their own theme songs in ‘05.
Not true in every case, but it used to make me happy. Now with the advent of “Priceless” for Ted & Cody, I think that theory has been killed off for me. I greatly enjoy Team Priceless (only one?), but I don’t see any of them getting a main event match within the next year or two.
Actually, starting in those years, Kane *did* have lyrics to his theme (the Finger Eleven song he started using around the time the the Punisher movie came out). I’m glad he went back to music without lyrics (not too sure if he stayed with it, as I haven’t watched RAW in a few weeks, but I know in the first weeks of September, he was going back to lyric-less music), as, for some reason, I think it fits his character a little better. It kind of gets to the roots of his character, know what I mean.
But, yeah, while I’m on the topic, theme music just isn’t as good nowadays as it was in the past. DX’s music was being discussed on this blog yesterday and it got me to thinking: I don’t know if something like that could be done today. There just aren’t any really compelling characters to go with great music.
Good call on the Kane theme. You’re right, he has gone back to a lyricless theme, and with his current character, it seems (imo) to fit a lot better.
IMHO, two main event scenarios would have sufficed – Batista plowing through Jericho like a hot knife through butter or Jericho squeaking out a win. I still maintain that Cena needs to go over a strong champion at Mania. What does it say that Dave can’t beat Y2J without a shitload of “extra-curricular activity”, as Gorilla would say? Cena-Batista in a dual-face match is not gonna cut it. They need to turn Dave heel NOW and give him a Goldberg/Brock/Steiner run where he destroys everyone in the company leading up to Cena.
I don’t necessarily think Dave needs to turn just yet, though he should be a heel heading into the Mania match with Cena. The next few PPVs can be either lame-duck heel challengers or multiman matches (Survivor Series and Armageddon are rarely singles title matches nowadays). Dave can then turn on Cena as we approach the Rumble and then destroy Rey Rey in the title match of that PPV to solidify the kids against him.
Then Cena can beat Dave at Mania. He probably doesn’t even need a Rumble victory for title shot legitimacy, so they can give that to Jeff before having his own big moment at Mania against (heel?) HHH.
The WrestleMania main event is Triple H vs. Undertaker or Cena vs. the Undertaker.
Heel Batista vs. Cena would have been so much bigger had they not hot shotted it at Summerslam this year for no reason other than to (supposedly) appease Big Dave backstage. I guess the other way to go is to keep Batista face and go with him and a heel Orton and then maybe put Cena against Taker. I don’t think they can stay with HHH-Hardy all the way towards Mania – maybe a returning Edge takes the belt and they can have Hardy chase him until Mania. Realistically, though, wishing for a ‘Mania without HHH wrestling for a title is wishful thinking.
Did you see the buyrate for SummerSlam? It was down about 100,000 from 2007 & 2006.
I just don’t see Batista as a draw. He was but after like a million title matches, a million title shots and no meaningful feud since everything has been a title or #1 contender thing…he’s lost his appeal in my opinion.
“The buyrate for WWE’s 2008 SummerSlam pay-per-view is in and it’s probably not sitting well with Vince McMahon and other WWE officials. The show did 465,000 buys, which is about 270,000 in North America. That compares to 537,000 buys for the 2007 SummerSlam and 529,000 buys for the 2006 SummerSlam. 2008’s event featured John Cena vs. Batista and Edge vs. The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell, the 2007 show featured John Cena vs. Randy Orton and the return of Triple H vs. Booker T while the 2006 SummerSlam featured Edge vs. John Cena and DX vs. Vince and Shane McMahon.”
Jericho losing is salvageable if they use it as fodder to keep going with Shawn. Like Jericho blaming it all on Shawn and doing something else drastic out of vengeance. They needed to take a little break in the feud to keep it going, and wasn’t there talk of this either being Shawn’s last run or they wanted to make a huge thing out of it? I mean, it all certainly seems like it should culminate in a Hell in the Cell match at some point.
He’s certainly the best heel in the business at this point and should still be on top, but it always seemed to me like he got the belt to add to his story with Shawn (asshole gets belt even though he supposedly got his comeuppance earlier in the evening), little nuances to keep the feud simmering over such a long time (for today’s product).
Every Hell in a Cell has featured HHH or Undertaker, so don’t bet on it. Until, one retires.
Well, there was a brief one between Kane and Mankind on Raw back in the day. It was also part of the Kennel from Hell match, though I don’t think that really counts as it’s been banished from existence.
They should do Triple H vs. Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania. Think of the tagline, “Who Has More Stroke?” It’d be fascinating. And sadly, probably more interesting than Cena vs. anybody as the WM Main Event.
I don’t know if every Hell in a Cell HAS to feature HHH or Undertaker. Plus, Shawn has faced both Taker *and* HHH in Hell in a Cell, so he could qualify to have one with Jericho.
Also, I think that if they wanted to really put Hell in a Cell over as the “last resort” to end feuds, beyond a cage match, if you will, this would be the feud to do it in.
From the way the two have been working together, I’d rather see a Magnum- vs- Tully-inspired “I Quit” match.
I have the exact opposite opinion of the Big Show/Taker match. I thought it was a tremendous match that was completely ruined by an asinine finish. I’m actually surprised you didn’t take issue with the finish. Taker locking in the choke after having to take a 9 count on multiple occasions completely negated everything that Big Show did in the match, and although they tried to tease that Taker was still out of it by having him fall down near the end, Big Show looked the worse for the ending, which acomplished nothing but protecting Taker and making Big Show look like a chump. I wouldn’t have minded if Taker had locked on the choke but not had the strength to use it effectively, but he basically hulked up and with one move no sold 15 minutes or so of having everything done to him short of being busted open. It’s no different than the PPV match Cena and JBL had where JBL had all the offense for the entire match, only to be hit with one move and lose.
Horrible, horrible finish.
If you’re basing the Big Show-Undertaker stuff on a more MMA-based dynamic (which is what they seem to be going for) then it’s entirely realistic because I’ve seen dozens of MMA finishes where a guy absorbs punishment for two or three rounds and then suckers his opponent into a choke for the win.
That’s what Big Nog, the current Interim HW champ, does in every single fight. He gets beat on for 10 minutes, clearly losing the fight, then sinks in a submission of some kind to win.
If you’re basing the Big Show-Undertaker stuff on a more MMA-based dynamic (which is what they seem to be going for) then it’s entirely realistic because I’ve seen dozens of MMA finishes where a guy absorbs punishment for two or three rounds and then suckers his opponent into a choke for the win.
Well, considering this is still pro wrestling, there’s no context whatsoever on their part to show that the finish was realistic and not just another case of “Taker overcoming the odds since he’s Taker.” I guess it’s a good idea in theory, but in practice it sent the totally wrong message, at least to me.
Oh yeah, that was this year’s Judgment Day. Cena fought JBL (in the opener, for some reason), and JBL dominated for like 15 minutes before the FU. The match layout was baffling, especially to start a ppv.