WWE News & Views #28: Late Survivor Series Recap, Raw, News, Q&A and More
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Welcome to the News & Views. This'll probably be the last N&V column of the year because I have other stuff I'm planning to write to end the year. In this week's N&V I'm going to give you some live notes from Survivor Series, as well thoughts on that show, some quick comments on the last Raw as well as the news, a small commentary and I'll bring it home by answering a couple of questions. Also at the end I've posted my MSN email address in case anybody wants to contact me on MSN Messenger about any of this stuff. So without further Apu… Live Notes from Survivor Series Was at the show. Enjoyed it. I thought it was pretty good, right around what I expected. I thought the crowd was pretty good. Seemed smarter than the last time I went to a show in Detroit. It's funny because you go in Toronto and it's like 80% of the crowd are smart fans. In Detroit it's probably 50/50 although last night it felt like more smart fans than that. I was sitting right near the hard cameras, so didn't make it on TV at all. It's a nice place to sit though because the wrestlers are always looking this way to get their faces on TV. Plus I didn't pay for my ticket, so who am I to complain? I missed the Dean/Juvi match mostly because I was taking a piss. Once I saw Kennedy wasn't in the dark match I made my way to the bathroom area. Booker/Benoit was cool. We weren't THAT into the whole show, but by the end we were. I'm surprised to see that it was only 14 minutes (looking at Keller's recap) because it felt like 20. But that's the way things are when you're live. They seem longer than they really are. Not shocked by the outcome since the heel always wins the first match in series like this. Call it right around *** or so thanks to a nice finish. Vince trying to act black? Let's just say Detroit isn't the best place to do that. If he did that outside on the street then he'd find out why it's called Murder City and not Motor City. Trish over Melina wasn't surprising. Decent match. Nothing amazing. I heart Trish, but that goes without saying by this point. Flair/HHH felt like it was 40 minutes, not 25. It was what it needed to be, though. I could tell that some of the crowd were getting restless, but not me. It was one of those great old school type of brawls that Hunter has had so much of in the last five years and Flair used to have to end his major feuds back in the day. Lots of blood, some nice drama and a very convincing finish too. I got it rated at ***3/4, but it might come off better when I watch the TV broadcast of it. The "Cutting Edge" talk segment was pretty good. I just don't know if it's the best thing to have on a PPV when a crowd wants matches. Would have loved to see something like Kennedy vs. Hardy here instead. Also, ripping on the sports team? Lame. Still, Edge did a nice job. Cena/Angle was a match where we were definitely rooting for Angle to come home with the win. That's the first time I've been in a crowd where the top face is booed or rooted against as much as Cena wins and I've been to a LOT of shows in my life. I wasn't a big fan of all the ref bumps in the match, but it did do a nice job of keeping the fans from going against Cena even more than they were. I was so ready to go nuts in seeing Angle win the belt, but it didn't happen. I don't know how much longer WWE can continue the Cena reign because fans are ready for something new and the long face reign isn't the most compelling story. *** match. They've had better. Long/Bischoff was a mess, as expected. I'm glad the crowd completely shit on this. It let me know that they were smarter than I gave them credit for coming in. People weren't really booing Boogeyman. It was more of a "boo this sucks" rather than a "boo this guy is a great heel" type of thing. What a fucking waste of time this was, though. -** seems right. And I rarely go negative stars. This was just bad. Elimination match was really fun to see live for a couple of reasons: 1) Even though I had an idea that Smackdown was winning, I had no idea how they would book the eliminations. 2) With the faces and heels not being defined by being on one side it led to heels being cheered and faces being booed just because it was so random at points 3) This guy sitting about two rows in front me was a HUGE Undertaker fan, even wearing his purple gloves, and was yelling at Orton for a half hour because he "killed" Undertaker. Good times. I think Lashley losing like he did was a HUGE mistake. Huge. It also lets me know that WWE has no idea how to book that guy. I think Mysterio was the most over face in the match, even more so than Batista and Michaels, who was booked to be the strongest face. People knew Batista was legit hurt, well, people except for crazy Undertaker kid. The elimination of Show drew raves. It was just excellent. The final 3 on 1 showdown was eerily similar to 2003, which was a letdown. When it started I knew what was coming. Shawn takes out two guys, then eats an RKO for a pin. Not creative at all. Still a very fun match. I'm not wild about Orton winning, but that's their boy, so it's not surprising. Rate it ***1/4. Could have been better, but the booking was poor. By the time Undertaker's entrance came I had my coat on and was up the aisle. I saw him beat up the jobbers, then stare at Orton and I guess that's where it ended. No idea if there was anything after that. I had a 2 hour drive ahead in the blistery cold of Murder City, USA, so I was out as fast as I could get out. Overall, I'd rate it at a 7.5 out of 10 or so. Not great, but a pretty good show all things considered. Quick Raw Recap for 12/05/05 I was entertained. The "trial" was pretty funny. I'm ready for a new GM anyway, so if this was Bischoff's sendoff (and it appears that it is) then at least it was a cool way to relive some Bischoff moments with the videos they showed. Lots of good stuff in the trial with Maria becoming smart, Boogeyman popping up, Foley with the Batman lunchbox and everybody involved delivered some really funny lines too. I'm LOVING a teased heel turn by Shelton Benjamin. God, a Michaels vs. Benjamin feud to start the year? Thank you! Slow build, please. No need to rush it. Edge's segment was really good thanks to him and to Hayes. I understand people getting a bit testy at the mentioning of Terry Gordy, but let's not act like it wasn't agreed upon before they went out there, ya know? It's a good way to keep Edge on the show without him getting injured more than he is already. Hayes showed why he's considered one of the best talkers in wrestling history. I'm surprised we didn't see Arn Anderson or Ricky Steamboat out there to defend Flair. It's a weird dynamic with Big Show these days. He's a face on Raw and a heel on Smackdown. Further, why are they booking Raw guys at a Smackdown PPV now? Weird. Pretty good show. I'd rate it at 7 out of 10. No "great" matches, but nothing was horrible and the non-wrestling segments were really strong. The News - Other big news this week is that Christy Hemme got released. I'm a little shocked by this because she did commit to training to wrestle in Louisville and then all of a sudden they decide to cut her loose. Weird. - Finally some good news is that Joey Styles has signed a five year deal to be the voice of Raw. While I think getting rid of JR the way they did (he's not really fired, but the on-air firing was a bit much) was too over the top, at least they found the best possible replacement in Joey Styles. Good interview with Styles too. - As for a Batista injury update, it looks like he'll be able to work through his torn lat injury. He'll be working a lighter schedule in the coming weeks, probably a lot of tag matches and rehabbing at the same time. I can't imagine the type of pain he's in not just from his injury, but the burden of being the top guy on the show that had Eddie Guerrero on. I have so much respect for this man. In the past year he's went from a midcarder to a top guy and he's done an admirable job the entire time. The Three Count 2. I am not a Boogeyman fan. At all. His entrance is horrible. His "match" with Simon Dean wasn't even a match. Just time filler. Use him for comedic purposes backstage in vignettes and that's fine with me. I'd prefer to not see him in long wrestling matches, though. 3. I read the Eddie Guerrero tribute article in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer newsletter and I have to say it was phenomenal. There's a lot of nice stories about his career as well as some comments from those that were close to him. One of the more revealing things in there was that Eddie went to a doctor a few months back and the doctor told him to retire because his back was so screwed up. Eddie said no because he had a family to support and he wanted to get back to being a world champion again. I don't think any of us realized just how hurt he really was when he was in the ring. As many have said, once he got in the ring everything seemed right with the world. Reader Questions & Comments Alright, I have a two-part question for you to ponder about. First, what is your opinion of race in the WWE? You have the main three African-American guys, Jordan, Benjamin, and Booker T., which I don't believe are ever used right. And then there's Lashley, whom I think should be in line for the World Title very soon. I really want to believe that WWE doesn't see race, but it's been a long time since I've seen an African-American World Champion. WCW let Booker carry the title five different times. I'm sure they had their own reasons for choosing Booker, but I want to believe that they judged him on his talent rather than the color of his skin. I'm a HUGE WWE fan. I love to see John Cena and Batista and JBL with the title, but I would certainly like to see someone of my own race carry the title while I'm still a wrestling fan. That brings me to the other part of my question. What do you see in the future for Bobby Lashley? I mean, they put him over as having the same (or similar) credentials as Brock Lesnar, and he certainly has the size and ability to be put over as Champion. Brock came in and grabbed the title really early in his career. I was just wondering why the WWE is bringing Lashley out so slowly. Q Platinum I don't think WWE is intentionally trying to prevent a black man from being a World Champion in their company. I think Booker T. is a guy whose best days are behind him. And I'm not saying that to be mean because frankly this guy was one of the main reasons why I watched WCW in the first place. He's just getting old now, that's all. If WWE had Booker T. in his REALLY good days from 1996-2000 then I think you would have seen the man as the world champion at some point. When they finally moved him to the main event spot at WrestleMania 19 they obviously didn't feel comfortable enough with him to put the world title on him there. Whether it was because of his age or his promos or whatever, I'm not sure. But I think part of the reason he hasn't got the belt is that he was not working for WWE in his five year prime. I'm not impressed with Orlando Jordan much at all. He's got a good build, but his work in the ring leaves a lot to be desired. I think Shelton Benjamin has main event potential. I'm not sure if WWE thinks that though. On the plus side, at least there's something to smile about because it appears as though he's turning heel and that could lead to a nice push in the near future. I think Lashley comparisons to Lesnar are fair to make on the surface, but I'm pretty sure that Brock had more training in the then WWF minor leagues than Lashley has. That's part of the WWE problem today. They call guys up too quickly because they have spots to fill and what ends up happening is they have to push them slowly because they're not ready for a big role. I think there are big things in Lashley's future, but it may take some time to build him up. Crowds seem into him, so that's a good sign. To answer the question, he's being brought up slower because in terms of experience he is behind where Lesnar was when they first brought him up to the main roster. Who do you think should be the next General Manager of Raw? Certain reports say it will be Jerry Jarrett, Dusty Rhodes, Mick Foley, or possibly even Bret Hart (which I really doubt). I think it'll probably end up being a Mc Mahon or a superstar. It would be nice to have a good GM though. Hopefully they make a good decision. Andre Samson. I think it'll be Foley. He seems to want to be on the road again, he excelled in the role before and I think there's been enough time between his last stint for them to do it again. The GM has to be great at promos and backstage skits. You can't do much better than Mick Foley, ya know? How You Can Be Here Send all comments and/or questions to me at oratoryjohn@gmail.com and throw in a name for me to reference to as well. I won't post your email address, but a name would be nice. A location is fine too. That's up to you. Remember this too: The better your grammar, the more likely it is that you'll be in the feedback section. I really enjoy answering your questions and hearing your ideas for stuff. It's a lot of fun, so please keep them coming. In Closing… The other piece to end the year are the 2005 Johnny Awards, which are my unique awards for the 2005 WWE Calendar year. They will be posted either the last week of December or the first week of January. Last thing I want to say is feel free to send me an instant message at my new MSN address of oratoryjohn@hotmail.com because I'll try to be on there as often as possible. I've had people email me asking to get an MSN address, so I've signed up and you can contact me there as you wish. Don't email me at that address, but you can contact me on MSN at that address. That's what it's there for. Smell ya later, Links to check out: |
