Post by MikeGrim on Oct 6, 2008 18:15:28 GMT -5
Spot Fest
WWE No Mercy
by: Michael C. Grimaldi
Wow...I said yesterday this was a two match show...AND BOY HOWDY did those matches deliver; but in the end, it was actually a solid show up and down. Let's get to the spot fest. Remember, High Spots are the good, Botched Spots are the bad, and Rest Holds are the stuff that was just kind of there.
High Spots
Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry- This was simple and effective. I know I'm repeating what the major sites have said, but they are right. The slow break down of Henry's knee, which is a legit weak spot on Henry, worked into the finish perfectly. There were no overly long slow spots and even when the match slowed down, Hardy made enough of a come back each time to keep the crowd in it. I said it in my preview, Mark Henry just couldn't have this match 2 years ago. I don't know what clicked with him, but while you may not buy a PPV for Mark Henry, it's no longer a situation where he's on shows because he's getting paid. Mark Henry has earned a slot of PPVs and Matt Hardy, he doesn't steal shows, but he never puts in a poor effort.
JBL's Promo- Man was that...perfect. I don't like to normally mix politics and wrestling, but this is such a big issue to the Untied States and around the world, that to ignore it and not allow JBL to use it to build himself would be a huge mistake. I called the "fire" from JBL in the Spot Fest for last weeks RAW, and he turned that fire to a dead on heel promo to mock the fans who the JBL character believes are below him. Brilliant promo...it's too bad what came before and after were well below JBL's verbal skills on this night.
Big Show vs. The Undertaker- This was a solid match. I don't think it was great, but it was, as JR would call, "a solid piece of business." Writing this only after a few minutes after watching the show, I can say it's not all that memorable, however Show got a pretty good victory over a legend. Against a guy like Show, it's hard to tell if Taker was slowed by his knee at all, but he looked steady. There's no doubt, that if Show can knock out the Undertaker with his punches, the finish is over.
Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H- I talked about the chemistry that these two have, and did it ever show. There was so much good give and take here and I enjoy seeing Triple H actually wrestle a match instead of brawling and bullying. Hardy's splat on the outside after he first attempted the somersault dive was risky, but Hardy takes those types of bumps as well as anyone. I just really enjoyed this match and it showed that even with a small amount of build up, if the match is right, the fans want to see Jeff Hardy as WWE Champion. I know they're pushing Kozlov...but i think a rematch for the title between just Hardy and Triple H, with the back selling of this match as a foundation, I think that would sell some PPVs. This was a hell of a match.
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho- Again, if you didn't read my preview, I encourage you to. Just scroll down the page a bit. This was...perfect. The execution, the intensity and the professionalism to take a match that has turn into the title of this column, a spot fest, into a real old school wrestling brawl with new school tactics. They didn't do anything that didn't matter just to get a reaction. And as corny as Jericho may have looked throwing the ladder around on Monday (and I said I didn't really like that part of his promo), when he went to do one of the things he demonstrated in that promo, the crowd reacted. The two cool spots that I hadn't seen before were, obviously the finish, and then the small part early on after Michaels had the figure 4 on, and they were both near a ladder that was laying on the mat in the corner, and Jericho kicked the one side of the ladder and the other side wrapped Michaels in the head. The old "teeter-totter" spot was used as well, but this was a cool little twist, that wasn't as obviously set up. The huge bump Jericho took off the 15 foot ladder to the floor was amazing. The look on Jericho's face was priceless as well when he looked down and saw how far he was going to fall. I just can't say enough about a 43 year old and a 38 year old doing this kind of match. TLC spot fests and Money in the Bank matches are spectacles and I enjoy them...but this...this match was awesome. The feud of the year just added another great match to it's resume. Last PPV I was left was a feeling that the match, while good, wasn't a Terry Funk/Ric Flair "I quit match" moment to cap off a feud...this was.
Almost all the big names- With one exception, all the big names delivered on this show. This was a staple of the WWE PPVs for a long time, where the big names in the big matches wouldn't allow themselves to have a bad match. Of late, over booking has stood in their way. While Jeff Hardy may have at times, "lost his passion" for wrestling and Triple H is much maligned by the "smart" fans, all 6 men in the final 3 matches are examples of the big boys stepping up. I think shows like this are better for the moral of a locker room than any slight upswing in the ratings. Yes, people are probably on egg shells around Vince, but when the big names, who's spot you want, perform at the level they did, how can anyone who was either below them on the card, or not on the show, not say to themselves, "Okay...it's on now."
CM Punk's first PPV commercial- Okay...this isn't a really good commercial for Cyber Sunday, BUT Punk is on the poster by himself, so to me, that's cool. But what makes this a "high spot" is that his first staring commercial in the WWE, he doesn't talk...HE'S TEXTING!!! Sadly, since I don't know if AT&T has a "Sidekick" phone, it wasn't totally based in reality; but seriously, Punk texting in a commercial? That has to be a rib!
Botched Spots
Candice Michelle vs. Beth Phoenix- This was pretty ugly. I have no idea what Candice was doing early on, other than clearly missing stuff. She missed a standing leg drop...BY A MILE! The Santino/Beth thing needs to be put to bed. Beth needs to be the dominant champion she was before and has to beat people like Candice and Kelly...and beat them badly. I'm not letting these girls off the hook by saying, "she tried" because there are dozens of females out there who try and can actually do the moves they do while not blowing the simple shit. I know, they don't look like Candice, but saying she tried hard isn't an excuse if she just can't do it.
Batista vs. JBL- Wow...what a clusterfuck. Yes, Batista did dominate JBL, but it was ugly, and not in a good way. I'm not putting this all on Big Dave. I have to wonder, as great as the promo JBL did afterwards, how much of what he said was true. These guys have worked each other a ton of times, yet it seemed that there was very little prep for the match and they left JBL out there to call it in the ring. Was JBL not around enough, while dealing with the issues on Wall Street, to put in enough time with Batista on house shows? Did JBL assume that Batista remember all those matches from years past and that he could simply call the match on the fly? I don't know the answer, but I do know for a fact that JBL was calling the match in the ring...and doing it very loudly. The mics were picking up a lot of that on this show, but this match it would have been obvious on any show. Batista can be carried to a very good match. He's got some Luger in him that way. Sadly, his offense has some Luger in it too. Lots of energy, not a lot of "umph."
Cryme Tyme- I don't dislike them. I don't even find their "Money Money...Yeah Yeah" line that annoying, but JBL should have been allowed to keep his heat from his great promo.
Michelle McCool's "dancing"- From the above segment...did you see Michelle McCool try to dance as Cryme Tyme brought them towards the limo? Wow. Chris Wilcox doing his "Flash Dance" impression in Fells Point in Baltimore felt embarrassed for her.
Michael Cole's Sexuality?- Okay...we all see the "wedding" band on your finger Mr. Cole, but c'mon, who are you fooling? Of late, for high flyers and fast paced workers, he's started to use to term "swashbuckling style." Really? Cole took his comments to a new level last night, night only by describing Misterio as "swashbuckling" but then he called Batista...and I quote, "rugged and brawny." Like the paper towel guy? WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH MICHAEL COLE?! Is her worried about his job? Is Steve Lombardi looking to get out from under the office and Cole is making a play for his job? I'm not even going to say, "not that there is anything wrong with it" because while watching men in what amounts to their underwear beating on each other, maybe there isn't anything wrong with it...but it's getting Bobby Heenan/Lex Luger creepy.
Rest Holds
Kane vs Rey Misterio- I actually liked this match...and I didn't mind this finish, because it "looked cool." Why this match falls here are, A) the point everyone is making that if Kane wants to unmask Rey so badly, and Rey was saying, "I can't feel my legs" didn't Kane unmask Rey then? And 2 (yes I know I just said A before), why didn't the announcers sell Rey's "I can't feel my legs" line. I honestly don't know if that was even a spot that was in the plans...I have no idea if Rey figured his knee was hurt more than just tweaking it, and was covering for a big injury or what...but it was a solid line that the announcers just no-sold. This was actually a pretty good match beyond the poor story line of the feud. Why doesn't Kane just come out to Billy Joel's, "The Stranger" and get it over with.
MVP/Randy Orton/Priceless/CM Punk/Kofi Kingston confrontation- Another thing I didn't dislike, but since the fans there didn't like it up until CM Punk came out, I can't put it as a high spot. I think most of these guys have a spot long term in this business. I love the Orton character of going after anyone and anyone who thinks they deserve attention. I even like MVP taking his gripe about not being on the show to the ring, even if Big Show just did that last month. With all that said, the crowd, the redundancy of the MVP/Vickie to Big Show/Vickie stuff, it could have worked...and I'll tell you how. MVP referenced top sports stars not getting benched in the big games. MVP brags about his "contract." MVP needs to pull a TO here. That's right...I want to see MVP go all Terrell Owens on Vickie and Smackdown. I want sit ups in his drive way, I want a weasely agent making pleas on his behalf for an even better contract, saying MVP has out performed his current one (and quite honestly, hasn't he?). I want trade demands. I want all that stuff.
WWE No Mercy
by: Michael C. Grimaldi
Wow...I said yesterday this was a two match show...AND BOY HOWDY did those matches deliver; but in the end, it was actually a solid show up and down. Let's get to the spot fest. Remember, High Spots are the good, Botched Spots are the bad, and Rest Holds are the stuff that was just kind of there.
High Spots
Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry- This was simple and effective. I know I'm repeating what the major sites have said, but they are right. The slow break down of Henry's knee, which is a legit weak spot on Henry, worked into the finish perfectly. There were no overly long slow spots and even when the match slowed down, Hardy made enough of a come back each time to keep the crowd in it. I said it in my preview, Mark Henry just couldn't have this match 2 years ago. I don't know what clicked with him, but while you may not buy a PPV for Mark Henry, it's no longer a situation where he's on shows because he's getting paid. Mark Henry has earned a slot of PPVs and Matt Hardy, he doesn't steal shows, but he never puts in a poor effort.
JBL's Promo- Man was that...perfect. I don't like to normally mix politics and wrestling, but this is such a big issue to the Untied States and around the world, that to ignore it and not allow JBL to use it to build himself would be a huge mistake. I called the "fire" from JBL in the Spot Fest for last weeks RAW, and he turned that fire to a dead on heel promo to mock the fans who the JBL character believes are below him. Brilliant promo...it's too bad what came before and after were well below JBL's verbal skills on this night.
Big Show vs. The Undertaker- This was a solid match. I don't think it was great, but it was, as JR would call, "a solid piece of business." Writing this only after a few minutes after watching the show, I can say it's not all that memorable, however Show got a pretty good victory over a legend. Against a guy like Show, it's hard to tell if Taker was slowed by his knee at all, but he looked steady. There's no doubt, that if Show can knock out the Undertaker with his punches, the finish is over.
Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H- I talked about the chemistry that these two have, and did it ever show. There was so much good give and take here and I enjoy seeing Triple H actually wrestle a match instead of brawling and bullying. Hardy's splat on the outside after he first attempted the somersault dive was risky, but Hardy takes those types of bumps as well as anyone. I just really enjoyed this match and it showed that even with a small amount of build up, if the match is right, the fans want to see Jeff Hardy as WWE Champion. I know they're pushing Kozlov...but i think a rematch for the title between just Hardy and Triple H, with the back selling of this match as a foundation, I think that would sell some PPVs. This was a hell of a match.
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho- Again, if you didn't read my preview, I encourage you to. Just scroll down the page a bit. This was...perfect. The execution, the intensity and the professionalism to take a match that has turn into the title of this column, a spot fest, into a real old school wrestling brawl with new school tactics. They didn't do anything that didn't matter just to get a reaction. And as corny as Jericho may have looked throwing the ladder around on Monday (and I said I didn't really like that part of his promo), when he went to do one of the things he demonstrated in that promo, the crowd reacted. The two cool spots that I hadn't seen before were, obviously the finish, and then the small part early on after Michaels had the figure 4 on, and they were both near a ladder that was laying on the mat in the corner, and Jericho kicked the one side of the ladder and the other side wrapped Michaels in the head. The old "teeter-totter" spot was used as well, but this was a cool little twist, that wasn't as obviously set up. The huge bump Jericho took off the 15 foot ladder to the floor was amazing. The look on Jericho's face was priceless as well when he looked down and saw how far he was going to fall. I just can't say enough about a 43 year old and a 38 year old doing this kind of match. TLC spot fests and Money in the Bank matches are spectacles and I enjoy them...but this...this match was awesome. The feud of the year just added another great match to it's resume. Last PPV I was left was a feeling that the match, while good, wasn't a Terry Funk/Ric Flair "I quit match" moment to cap off a feud...this was.
Almost all the big names- With one exception, all the big names delivered on this show. This was a staple of the WWE PPVs for a long time, where the big names in the big matches wouldn't allow themselves to have a bad match. Of late, over booking has stood in their way. While Jeff Hardy may have at times, "lost his passion" for wrestling and Triple H is much maligned by the "smart" fans, all 6 men in the final 3 matches are examples of the big boys stepping up. I think shows like this are better for the moral of a locker room than any slight upswing in the ratings. Yes, people are probably on egg shells around Vince, but when the big names, who's spot you want, perform at the level they did, how can anyone who was either below them on the card, or not on the show, not say to themselves, "Okay...it's on now."
CM Punk's first PPV commercial- Okay...this isn't a really good commercial for Cyber Sunday, BUT Punk is on the poster by himself, so to me, that's cool. But what makes this a "high spot" is that his first staring commercial in the WWE, he doesn't talk...HE'S TEXTING!!! Sadly, since I don't know if AT&T has a "Sidekick" phone, it wasn't totally based in reality; but seriously, Punk texting in a commercial? That has to be a rib!
Botched Spots
Candice Michelle vs. Beth Phoenix- This was pretty ugly. I have no idea what Candice was doing early on, other than clearly missing stuff. She missed a standing leg drop...BY A MILE! The Santino/Beth thing needs to be put to bed. Beth needs to be the dominant champion she was before and has to beat people like Candice and Kelly...and beat them badly. I'm not letting these girls off the hook by saying, "she tried" because there are dozens of females out there who try and can actually do the moves they do while not blowing the simple shit. I know, they don't look like Candice, but saying she tried hard isn't an excuse if she just can't do it.
Batista vs. JBL- Wow...what a clusterfuck. Yes, Batista did dominate JBL, but it was ugly, and not in a good way. I'm not putting this all on Big Dave. I have to wonder, as great as the promo JBL did afterwards, how much of what he said was true. These guys have worked each other a ton of times, yet it seemed that there was very little prep for the match and they left JBL out there to call it in the ring. Was JBL not around enough, while dealing with the issues on Wall Street, to put in enough time with Batista on house shows? Did JBL assume that Batista remember all those matches from years past and that he could simply call the match on the fly? I don't know the answer, but I do know for a fact that JBL was calling the match in the ring...and doing it very loudly. The mics were picking up a lot of that on this show, but this match it would have been obvious on any show. Batista can be carried to a very good match. He's got some Luger in him that way. Sadly, his offense has some Luger in it too. Lots of energy, not a lot of "umph."
Cryme Tyme- I don't dislike them. I don't even find their "Money Money...Yeah Yeah" line that annoying, but JBL should have been allowed to keep his heat from his great promo.
Michelle McCool's "dancing"- From the above segment...did you see Michelle McCool try to dance as Cryme Tyme brought them towards the limo? Wow. Chris Wilcox doing his "Flash Dance" impression in Fells Point in Baltimore felt embarrassed for her.
Michael Cole's Sexuality?- Okay...we all see the "wedding" band on your finger Mr. Cole, but c'mon, who are you fooling? Of late, for high flyers and fast paced workers, he's started to use to term "swashbuckling style." Really? Cole took his comments to a new level last night, night only by describing Misterio as "swashbuckling" but then he called Batista...and I quote, "rugged and brawny." Like the paper towel guy? WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH MICHAEL COLE?! Is her worried about his job? Is Steve Lombardi looking to get out from under the office and Cole is making a play for his job? I'm not even going to say, "not that there is anything wrong with it" because while watching men in what amounts to their underwear beating on each other, maybe there isn't anything wrong with it...but it's getting Bobby Heenan/Lex Luger creepy.
Rest Holds
Kane vs Rey Misterio- I actually liked this match...and I didn't mind this finish, because it "looked cool." Why this match falls here are, A) the point everyone is making that if Kane wants to unmask Rey so badly, and Rey was saying, "I can't feel my legs" didn't Kane unmask Rey then? And 2 (yes I know I just said A before), why didn't the announcers sell Rey's "I can't feel my legs" line. I honestly don't know if that was even a spot that was in the plans...I have no idea if Rey figured his knee was hurt more than just tweaking it, and was covering for a big injury or what...but it was a solid line that the announcers just no-sold. This was actually a pretty good match beyond the poor story line of the feud. Why doesn't Kane just come out to Billy Joel's, "The Stranger" and get it over with.
MVP/Randy Orton/Priceless/CM Punk/Kofi Kingston confrontation- Another thing I didn't dislike, but since the fans there didn't like it up until CM Punk came out, I can't put it as a high spot. I think most of these guys have a spot long term in this business. I love the Orton character of going after anyone and anyone who thinks they deserve attention. I even like MVP taking his gripe about not being on the show to the ring, even if Big Show just did that last month. With all that said, the crowd, the redundancy of the MVP/Vickie to Big Show/Vickie stuff, it could have worked...and I'll tell you how. MVP referenced top sports stars not getting benched in the big games. MVP brags about his "contract." MVP needs to pull a TO here. That's right...I want to see MVP go all Terrell Owens on Vickie and Smackdown. I want sit ups in his drive way, I want a weasely agent making pleas on his behalf for an even better contract, saying MVP has out performed his current one (and quite honestly, hasn't he?). I want trade demands. I want all that stuff.