My God so much has happened in the WWE since Wednesday and by that I mean all the departures that have taken place. I was going to add that to today’s column but I will wait until Sunday to give you my take on all of it. So it’s on to Impact and Smackdown, and I might add a very weird segment on Smackdown but I’ll get to that in a little bit.
No I’m not ordering Victory Road, but, again Impact came through beautifully hyping the Sunday pay per view. The matches were short because the effort seemed to be in getting the viewers in an ordering mood. Well what a shock to see Johnny B. Badd ( Marc Mero) come out. To be honest with you I saw very little of Mero in the WWE since his wife Sable at the time I started was getting more time than he was, plus I believe he was also hurt. But anyway I’m not a Mero fan but he looked impressive in a very short match against Tony Stadlin.
I have to laugh how lucky was I, when my phone rang right when Jeff Jarrett showed up? I didn’t hear a word he said but I watched him bring his video into the truck. As luck would have it I also didn’t have to listen to Roddy Piper either. I was on a roll for a change. I watched Jarrett’s video of Jeff Hardy’s beating in his hotel room. Petey Williams was right there alongside Jarrett taking care of Hardy. I also missed the whole Dusty Rhodes thing. For me all of this was fine because I watch Impact for the young talent not anything else. Finally I was off the phone and Shane Douglas and Chris Sabin were building up the 20 man Gauntlet match. Sabin while not a whiz on the mic got his point across about wanting to be number 1 instead of number 20 so he could showcase his ability. This 20 man Gauntlet match is one match that I wish I was going to see, I feel it will be the match that steals Victory Road.
Shane then announced a match with Amazing Red and Matt Sydal would be in a 4 man X Division match. Douglas picked the third opponent which was Kazarian and that brought Kazarian and Michael Shane out. Both were very upset that they would be against each other. Shane demanded that Douglas pick his name but then decided he didn’t need to wait. Well the name Shane picked opened Douglas’s eyes real wide. He said is he even with the company anymore? I know I had no idea who Shane was talking about.
Abyss vs. Seth Delay, short and worthless. Alpha Male Monty Brown came out and honestly I don’t remember what happened since none of this could hold my interest. I will say Raven’s little promo was typical Raven, but somehow the Monsters Ball match doesn’t quite do it for me. James Storm vs. Christopher Daniels again was super short. It was all that happened afterward that seemed to matter. Like Prime Time hand cuffing Harris to the turnbuckle and The Naturals helping out, and while this was all fun I would have loved to have seen a strong one on one match with Daniels and Storm. The next match was Kazarian vs. Matt Sydal vs. Amazing Red vs. Spanky. Yes Spanky from the WWE was the huge surprise for this match. All four of these guys did a super job even though this match was under two minutes long. Spanky won and Spanky had the moves that we are all used to seeing. He really looked good out there. The main event with AJ Styles and The Truth vs. Petey Williams and Jarrett was the longest match of the show. And I liked the match and this baby brought out a bandaged Jeff Hardy and all hell broke lose. Hardy definitely got the last laugh on Jarrett and because of that I’m not seeing a Jeff Hardy loss at Victory Road. As I said this show was about Victory Road and the matches were definitely secondary. Again I’m extremely impressed by the buildup for the pay per view so Impact gets thumbs up for great hype.
How I wish I would have taped the Tough Enough segment last night on Smackdown. How did I know that Kurt Angle was going to come out of it with a loss? Well in the eyes of the ref and most of the fans Angle got the pin against Daniel Puder. But my son happened to be watching and when Puder put Angle in a key lock my son was totally impressed with what he was seeing, and he was my JR during this giving me some play by play. And it was Puder that beat Angle. I was totally surprised by this as I think Kurt Angle was. Up until this moment again the Tough Enough stuff was crap. Watching them prepare and vomit was more than enough for me. And when they came to the ring and met Kurt Angle face to face for the most part each guy took Kurt as anything but serious. Again I’m watching these contestants and I’m watching the time and I see 15 minutes of total waste, well almost total waste. That’s because Puder the UFC wrestler in the ring against Kurt certainly made it all worth while. I had sworn not to participate in this miserable contest but after Puder’s key lock on Angle how could I not vote for the guy.
But with the exception of that this segment was total crap and for me it really set the tone for a very average show last night.
I could not get into the Booker/JBL feud at all last night, maybe because it seemed to be an afterthought with too much emphasis on that Tough Enough contest. I did like that little brat Spike Dudley calling the shots and getting D-Von and Bubba ready to put Show through a table. Remember this would guarantee a Dudley on Kurt’s team. Spike was excellent during this skit. Last night Josh Matthews a guy I liked on Tough Enough, but never could get into him on Smackdown. It’s taken me a long time to warm up to him on Smackdown, but I have come to enjoy his work on Velocity and last night after being hit by JBL and humiliated by JBL and Orlando Jordan, I thought he came off very well last night when going right to Theodore Long to complain about the abuse he’s taken from Bradshaw.
During all of this Book ran in there complaining about JBL’S interference during his match with Jordan. Booker was hot, Josh was I think HOTTER and the two teamed up and would face JBL and Jordan in a tag team match.
The Mighty Dudley’s with Spike standing on a table called out Big Show. Spike the man that can take on anyone was already for Show. However when Big Show’s music hit I saw a little bit of nervousness in Spikes eyes. Show came out and grabbed Spike; this is when the Dudley’s attacked giving him the Dudley’s 3D. And just as they were set to put him through the table, Show grabbed D-Von and Bubba by their necks, head butted Bubba and chokeslammed D-Von through the table. He then chokeslammed Bubba through a table after that. A nice spot to put Show over and this was a way to keep any Dudley off Angle’s team. With the Dudley’s out, Luther Reigns and Jindrak were complaining to Angle about being a man short. Ah but Kurt saw Carlito standing around with his buddy Jesus. Kurt did all he could to talk CCC into joining their team. But before his answer, Carlito took a bit of his apple chewed it, hesitated, and then shook Kurt’s hand and replied cool. So it’s set, Kurt, Luther, Jindrak and Carlito will go against Eddie’s team.
I was very happy with RVD and Rey Mysterio taking on Luther and Jindrak. This was all Rey’s and RVD’s. And what a nice surprise to see Jindrak pinned and RVD and Rey getting the win. CCC and Jesus then came out and attacked Rey and RVD which then brought out Eddie for the save. It’s always nice to see Eddie out there, the match and the aftermath all worked well. Now here is where I have a small problem. It’s all set, RVD, Eddie, Rey and Big Show are a team, but not anymore. Rey is now in the 4 man elimination match for the Cruiserweight Title with Spike, Billy Kidman and Chavo Guerrero. I would have been satisfied to keep Rey out of that division having him back in there is kind of a let down. Teddy Long told Eddie he has to pick a new guy by next week. And one of my readers thinks it’s going to be John Cena and I have to say I think so too. It didn’t hit me until that email came to me. But we will definitely know next week.
They have Miss Jackie and Dawn Marie hand wrestle then go at it because of Charlie Haas, and then Charlie came out with crutches to help Jackie. Unfortunately this brought out Heindenreich who then basically destroyed Haas. And the whole love triangle died right there. Oh and no Undertaker last night, so you know that means he will show up for the last Smackdown before Survivor Series. What else is new? Another horrible Tough Enough segment was near the end of the show and even worse Torrie Wilson talked. She’s going to have a sex test for the contestants. Dear God mark that on your calendar. Booker T and Josh defeated JBL and Orlando Jordan and this match seemed to make the fans extremely happy. Josh got a few nice moves in all in all this was short but very entertaining. Unfortunately, Smackdown just didn’t do it for me. I sure hope next week we get more buildup for the Survivor Series and that the sex test is like 2 minutes long. Okay I’ll be back on Sunday and yeah part of my column will be about the 10 wrestlers that were released this week from the WWE. I wonder if there were be more before Sunday’s column.
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