Make yourself comfortable have I got a lot to talk about. I will start with No Way Out and then go right to Raw. I would love to give both shows 10 out of 10, but unfortunately No Way Out had more wrong with it than right, but that’s okay because for the most part this is one very positive column. And one more thing, I missed only two of my picks. Chavo Guerrero winning never EVER crossed my mind and I was pleasantly surprised that Eddie and Rey beat the Bashams. Okay let me give you my views on the pay per view. Also I have a little news on Rock and the WWE at the end of my column; I think all you Rock fans will be very happy when you read it.
The opening match with Eddie and Rey taking on The Bashams was a solid match just as I thought it would be. I thought it was a very good way to open the show and as I said earlier the only thing that I didn’t expect was that Eddie and Rey would leave as the champions. So a very good opening match and the sad part is things really went downhill after this one. Things started to fall apart with the whole diva thing. Torrie Wilson not only showed she’s not only painful to listen too but the woman’s so called “ad-libs” were pathetic. Dawn Marie did a decent job playing the bitch but she couldn’t carry what was to be three miserable segments dealing with the rookie divas.
I also learned why we don’t see Heindenreich wrestle on a weekly basis. The reason? He’s terrible. Booker wasn’t able to carry this man and I think after his performance OVW should be his next home. I guess I thought with Booker and a regular match not a brawl, and not a run in this guy would show the fans that he was an able wrestler, but all he showed was his weakness in the ring and this was by far the worst match of the night. If you recall Friday I mentioned how angry I was that during the Cruiserweights match the rookie diva’s came out, which I found very insulting to all of those guys in the ring. So I figured on Sunday Funaki vs. Chavo vs. Shannon Moore vs. Spike Dudley vs. Akio vs. Paul London would be a near masterpiece, but I was very wrong. I blame the three disgusting segments with the divas for this match being so rushed. Instead of having this go on for a good 20 minutes or more, this baby was over in less than 10 minutes. The guys up until Chavo’s turn were eliminated so fast you couldn’t even soak in what was going on. I cannot tell you how angry I am that Vince thinks parading women out for more than one segment is so much more important than a match that could have really helped put the show over. And things continued to stink with the Taker/Luther Reigns match. As decent as Taker looked Thursday against Mark Jindrak that’s how bad he looked Sunday. I saw him going at Luther’s face but punching air more than once. Undertaker was totally off of his game and I can’t say that Luther shined either, I really thought this would come off well, but was I ever wrong.
As you can see things are as bad as they can get. Thirty five dollars for this show and except for a good tag team match, this show isn’t even worth watching for free. However, two men turned things around so quickly and I’m talking about Kurt Angle and John Cena. After watching these two go at it I was more than happy that I ordered the show. Kurt was outstanding, and Cena held his own. I found both men working so well off each other, and seeing Kurt do what he does best; WRESTLE was a joy to me. I have to thank Angle and Cena for making me one happy fan, I will never forget this match and I will also never forget how Kurt with all his physical problems gave 110 percent and at times you could see Kurt was struggling but he never slowed up or gave up and this was the match that made No Way Out totally worth watching. As far as the Barbed Wire Cage match with JBL and Big Show? It was everything I thought it would be. Nothing bad, but nothing spectacular. Sure there was a lot of blood and both men worked hard; it was good enough to hold my interest. The only thing I didn’t get was the run in with Batista. While we all knew he would be there I could not understand how instead of coming out in street clothes he came out in trunks. It made no sense, but it all ended well with Batista taking care of JBL’s cabinet and then John Cena beating the hell out of JBL. The final shot with Cena and Batista staring at each other claiming to be the next champion was awesome. So Kurt, Cena and Batista were my stars of No Way Out.
And Batista continued to shine on Raw. First off, the Penn State fans were amazing, and I do mean amazing. They were so involved with this show; they were so into it I have to say they just made Raw that much better. First off, I cannot tell you how fantastic it was to see an excellent women’s match with Trish vs. Victoria vs. Molly for the Women’s title. Victoria really stuck out in this one, and all three did such a good job that even the fans were behind them all the way.
Trish was right on again last night as the BITCH of Raw. This woman not only has worked her ass off to be one of the best in the ring, but she has become such a great heel that watching her is something I look forward too each week. I have no problem with Christy and Trish having a small cat fight. But I hope the rumors aren’t true about Trish vs. Christy at Wrestlemania. Trish has come too far to be put in such a lame type of match. But as I said a mini feud I could handle. I did enjoy watching Christy attack Trish after Trish slapped Candace in the face. When Christy is serious and not bouncing all over the place she’s a lot more appealing to watch.
Hunter and Flair’s first segment was a good one. Hunter was so hyped thinking that Batista was going to Smackdown after the crowd reaction he got at No Way Out. Ric Flair was great playing Hunter’s biggest fan by kissing up to him. Flair was on fire last night, he was very funny. This was just another way to get the fans ready for Batista’s decision. Shawn Michaels did come through when he and Randy were backstage talking about their tag team match against Edge and Christian. Randy wanted to discuss Wrestlemania with Shawn, and that’s when Shawn broke out with a nice pep talk. He told Orton that 10 years ago no one was thinking about Shawn Michaels, that all changed when he came out with a ladder. And that changed the business forever. Of course he was talking about his ladder match with Razor Ramone, which I have rented and I loved it. Anyway that little talk is going to definitely set up Randy Orton going after Undertaker. The rumor going around is Legend vs. Legend Killer for Wrestlemania and it seems like that rumor will come true. So another backstage segment that was done very well.
Let’s see last week Jericho took on Hassan, but this week Simon Dean had the honors of working with Jericho. I liked this match but watching Jericho out there makes me wonder what the hell is going on. I notice a pattern with Chris. Just when it seems like Chris is moving up all of a sudden he is put into an upper mid card position. I don’t get it and I am not happy about it, but as I said Dean and Jericho did a nice job. Another week with Kane just being sent out there to wrestle anyone on the roster. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against Tomko but this match came out of the blue with nothing to back it up, so it just cements my thinking that Kane needs to move to Smackdown and get some new blood to work with. The match was okay, at least Kane won. Ah so Chris Masters arrived last night, and the first man he met was Ric Flair. Well we all know that Masters is going to play the cocky SOB and that showed when he insulted Ric by telling Ric to watch his match so he can learn a thing or two. After that remark I would love to see Ric beat the hell out of him.
I was under the impression that it would be Masters vs. Chris Benoit, but last night it was Benoit taking on Hassan. After Hassan got done saying the same old stuff it was Chris Benoit that came out to shut Hassan and Daivari up. I was so pleased with Benoit on the mic he came off focused and very intense. Naturally Chris was overpowered by both men but this might just be one cool feud to watch. Christian/Edge vs. HBK and Randy Orton I would say would rate as match of the year. This was so off the charts so entertaining that every guy in the ring shined and I mean shined. I have to be honest with you I was waiting for Orton to turn on Shawn, but it didn’t happen which was okay. I loved seeing Edge and Christian together and when they tried to give Shawn the conchairto I was in seventh heaven. It brought back some nice memories. I can’t say enough about this match that’s how terrific it was. And then, to top things off, as our favorite air head Maria is just about to interview HBK, Edge shows up and attacks Shawn. He then spears him and goes berserk. He yells that Shawn should worry about him and him only. This was Edge at his very best, I absolutely loved this segment. Chris Masters vs. Stevie Richards was next. And in all honesty I can’t say if I liked him or disliked him. It’s too early to tell right now. He sure landed a punch in Richards face which caused a nice nose bleed. If you go to WWE.com there’s exclusive footage on the trainers taking care of Richard’s injury. I can’t say I was into the Snitzky/Benjamin match for the IC Title. But what I was into was Shelton Benjamin paying Gene
back for last week’s chair-shot to the head. I loved Shelton slamming the chair on Snitzky’s head and even better was watching Shelton’s facial expressions. This made the match all worth while. So Ric wasn’t in on last week’s limo incident. This was a segment where Hunter and Flair weren’t patting themselves on the backs for getting Batista to go to Smackdown; this was a segment to show how desperate Hunter was to get Dave away from him. When he confessed to Flair about how he set things up, I was waiting for Flair to walk out on him, but good old Flair just loved the confession so much that he was strutting his stuff. And I was so glad that Dave Batista was standing right out there smiling and contemplating his next move. I don’t feel that Hunter and Flair’s vignette hurt anything; in fact I think got things going even more.
When Eric Bischoff, Theodore Long and Evolution hit the ring not only were the fans in the arena into all of this but so was I. You just knew that this main event was going to be one that would be talked about all week. Bisch and Long did a nice job doing their very best to get Batista to sign with them. Hunter came through with his BS about why Dave should move to Smackdown. But it was Batista who performed the best. When he told Hunter that he had known for a long time what he would do the fans totally cheered, and then when Hunter and Flair gave him the thumbs up, it was Batista’s thumbs down that got things really going. When his thumb went down, Hunter’s look of certainty went to a look of shock and anger I was on the edge of my chair. Batista did to Flair and Hunter what they did to Orton back in the summer. The crowd was eating all of this up and watching Hunter get the Batista Bomb right through a table was just what Hunter deserved. What a fabulous way to end Raw, Hunter put through a table and Dave with the belt standing on the turnbuckle like the World Champion. Raw was outstanding and watching the Batista turn was so sweet. So it’s on to Smackdown. We now get to see Cena do his best to get to JBL. With Shawn earlier in the show going to Long to request Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania, I am looking forward to Kurt’s reaction to the challenge. With six weeks to go until Wrestlemania both shows really need to come through. Raw did and I’m hoping Smackdown can do it too. Okay the latest on Rock is that Vince feels very bad about Rock’s contract running out and everything is being done to remedy the situation. Vince has apologized to Rock and there’s a chance that Rock could show up at Wrestlemania, so there you go. I will be back on Friday to give you my Smackdown thoughts.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
