With so many shows this week it would take way too long to go over each one thoroughly so here’s what I want to do. I want to throw out certain segments that stuck out more than others, most of them will be very positive and of course I have some that are far from positive. I’ll start with The Survivor Series and end it with last night’s Smackdown special.
This will take no time. I thought Sunday’s pay per view was excellent. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I ordered the show. The Detroit crowd was so hot, so awesome and they have every right to be. Everything clicked well almost everything. Let me say Vince going hip hop with John Cena left a lot to be desired. His “nigga” reference was so unnecessary. I feel it was done for shock value and Vince just showed how ignorant he is by even going that route. Also I found a so called match absolutely PATHETIC. And that was Eric Bischoff vs. Theodore Long. Now I knew it would be bad but I guess I didn’t realize it could be as horrible as it was. Thankfully it was short, shorter would have been better but other than that the matches were good. Triple H and Ric Flair stole the show again; I was amazed just how outstanding this was. And the Raw vs. Smackdown main event was excellent it was my second favorite match of the night. Melina vs. Trish? WOW these two women impressed me so much with their wrestling. Chris Benoit vs. Booker was a great match and a terrific way to get the show going. What made the Kurt Angle vs. John Cena match good was that Detroit crowd. Between the “come on Angle chants” and then the “come on Cena chants, and then the booing of John Cena and THEN the “YOU SUCK” chants at Cena all made for one fun match to watch. Raw and Smackdown delivered one fantastic pay per view.
As far as I’m concerned Raw dragged. There were just a few highlights on that show. One had to be Hunter’s promo. I thought he was strong on the mic and I can’t tell you how much I liked Big Show coming out and getting in Hunter’s face about the way he’s treated Ric Flair. I thought this was probably Big Show’s best job on the mic. He was really into his role. I loved this segment very much. I also thought Shawn Michaels vs. Carlito was one hot match. I liked this one so much better than their first match up. Carlito looked like a pro out there and it was the match of the night for me. The women’s match with Trish, Mickey James and Ashley vs. Torrie Wilson, Victoria and Candice was good. Mickey James really took over. She got to imitate her idol Trish by doing Trish’s Stratusfaction and pinning Victoria. I liked how this played out and I’m just waiting for the shit to hit the fan and for Trish and Mickey to finally become bitter enemies. Another match that I liked was Trevor Murdoch vs. Shelton Benjamin. But what I didn’t like was that Shelton again lost. It’s so obvious that Vince is doing everything he can to keep Benjamin down and I’m just waiting for that headline, WWE releases Shelton Benjamin.” That will not surprise me at all. I’m going out on a limb (and I’m being sarcastic) but the worst match of the night had to be Kane and Big Show vs. Snitzky and Tomko. This was really not much of a match, however I still like Big Show and Kane teamed up together, that seems to be working fine, at least for me it is. Okay here are my two negatives. I had too much of the whole Eric Bischoff, Vince and Shane McMahon storyline. I hate when we have to have so much on air time devoted to guys that are taking away from wrestlers. I would rather have had a match given to us than have to wonder if Eric Bischoff’s days are numbered. Between you and me I don’t see Eric being fired, and if they did dump him it wouldn’t really matter to me..
I have also had too much of Kurt Angle on Monday night. I don’t like his character at all. I don’t know how many of you have noticed but at least to me he looks bloated and he isn’t what he used to be. I’m really tired of his character. And it was so stupid putting Maria out there for Kurt to wrestle. I didn’t get why Cena didn’t run in immediately to stop anything from happening to her. This whole Angle/Cena feud has gone on too long. I still don’t like Daivari with Angle none of that gels for me. As far as the main event goes, while I thought Chris Masters was okay in it, again I question why isn’t Shelton Benjamin in this match, why the Masters push? I know I bring this up a lot but it really bothers me that Shelton is going nowhere. Most of us know that he is more than capable of entertaining the fans with his excellent wrestling skills. And sure his mic work isn’t the best but maybe if he got to speak on a regular basis it would greatly improve. Okay so Cena again beat Angle which again was a given. It was a good match but as I said I’m ready for Angle and Cena to come to an end. I guess after a strong pay per view, Raw just didn’t do that much for me.
As far as last night’s Smackdown special I liked it. Chris Benoit and Booker T once again put on one very good match. It looks like Benoit has his work cut out for him to get back into this Best of Seven series. I couldn’t have been happier to see Smackdown pay tribute to Eddie Guerrero again. Having Rey come out to Eddie Guerrero’s music and drive his low rider appealed to me very much. Rey’s match against Big Show was good. It could have been shorter but it was good. I liked Kane showing up and helping Big Show beat up Rey. I even thought it was cool that Taker made an appearance, and even better was Randy Orton coming out of nowhere and giving Taker the RKO. What bothered me was the ending. Randy taking out Taker was fine but using the low rider to destroy Taker was insensitive. They have a show where Rey Mysterio is praying and talking to Eddie and then they have a mini tribute to Eddie and then the car which is supposed to represent Eddie Guerrero is used to supposedly “kill” off another legend for Orton. I think this was done all wrong, and Vince needs to realize he’s turning so many fans away because of his stupidity or maybe I should say because of his oversized ego. The show started out strong but the ending kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.
Okay I’ll be back over the weekend with my Smackdown thoughts. I’ll leave you with what I just read. The Raw crew along with Mick Foley and JBL will be touring Afghanistan next week. This is just part of the press release from Armed Forces Entertainment. The WWE Superstars will visit, sleep and eat with military personnel through a series of appearances with the troops. The tour culminates with a live performance of Monday Night RAW featuring WWE Champion John Cena®, Triple H®, Ric Flair®, JBL(TM), Mick Foley(TM), Big Show®, Carlito(TM), Shelton Benjamin(TM), Snitzky(TM), Women’s Champion Trish Stratus®, Ashley(TM), Candice Michelle(TM), Maria(TM), Coach(TM), and Lilian Garcia(TM).
“Keeping troop morale high is one of the most important functions of Armed Forces Entertainment,” said Art Myers, Director of Air Force Services, who oversees Armed Forces Entertainment. “The continued support from Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment, especially the live shows during the holidays, gives our military personnel serving overseas something to look forward to, taking their mind off combat duties,” said Myers.
The WWE “Tribute to the Troops” tour marks the largest celebrity production to visit troops in Afghanistan, with WWE RAW Superstars visiting several bases throughout the country.
“It is important to us that we reach as many of the troops as we can, not only to entertain them, but thank them for their service to our country,” said McMahon. “Going back on tour with Armed Forces Entertainment means we have another opportunity to tell the stories of the significant sacrifices our men and women in uniform are making for our freedom and the freedom of others. In particular, we are excited to be visiting and performing for the first time for our ‘forgotten heroes’ in Afghanistan who continue to risk their lives in the effort to establish a strong, free Afghanistan.”
The “Tribute to the Troops” broadcast will mark USA Network’s first television special event of the highly rated WWE Monday Night RAW weekly series since its debut on the network this fall. The special program will feature exciting matches from the live performance, as well as taped features that will share with the American public the experience of daily life for U.S. service men and women in Afghanistan as they continue to fight in the name of freedom.
National media outlet MSNBC is scheduled to provide news coverage of the AFE WWE tour. MSNBC’s Rita Cosby has announced plans to broadcast “Rita Cosby: Live and Direct” live from Afghanistan on Wednesday, December 7, and Thursday, December 8, at 9 p.m. EST, to provide viewers a look into life on active duty for U.S. troops in Afghanistan and to chronicle WWE’s tour. www.armedforcesentertainment.com So next weeks shows should be very exciting to watch.
