So... I haven't posted an Entry in a couple days. Honestly, I just haven't felt like it. That's alright, I'll kill three birds with one stone.
I didn't write my normal commentary on Smackdown, because, well... I thought it sucked. The only entertaining portion was the Money in the Bank qualifying match between Shelton Benjamin and Jimmy Wang Yang. This match, is exactly what I was talking about in my 'WWE Monday Night Raw, 2/18/2008' entry. As much as I would like to see Jimmy Wang Yang in a ladder match, I knew that Shelton Benjamin would get the win (who has been awesome in past ladder matches, by the way). My whole point here, is they put Shelton in the match with an opponent that made it competitive. It was a fantastic, high flying match. These two guys are great talents.
The only other redeeming quality about Friday's airing was the epiphany I had. If they ever decide to do a re-make of Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein, Festus would be the perfect guy to play Peter Boyle's monster. I also think that it's too bad that Festus isn't hairier. He be the perfect son of George 'The Animal' Steele.
80th Annual Academy Awards. 'The Oscars'
I trudged through this crap last night, basically because there wasn't much else on. I was surprised to see Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as a presenter. I gotta tell you Rock, I know you're living out your whole movie star fantasy, but please come back. Your movies are okay, but they aren't terribly spectacular. You were much more entertaining in the ring. Plus, I gotta say, seeing you in a tuxedo is just plain wrong (yes, more wrong than a T-shirt and stretchy man-panties.
While yes, I live here in Los Angeles, and could easily have gone to the Staples Center to see this live, I chose to sit here and watch the video stream on the internet. Fighting LA traffic all the way into downtown is not my idea of fun. Anyway, here's the recap:
Jonathan Coachman opens the press the press conference to introduce Vince McMahon. Thankfully, Vince walks out normally and doesn't so that awful 'powerwalk'. I guess he reserves that for the entrance ramp. Vince went on to define 'WWE', as if the world doesn't get it. World: Vince calls the WWE the world's greatest export. Wrestling: Here he talks abit about wrestling, but goes on to call WWE 'the only variety show left on television'. Entertainment: Vince claims to 'entertain our audience better than anyone else in the world'. Vince McMahon talks a bit about the first WrestleMania, and references the Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorf, and then elaborates on celebrity involvement. He made it a point to note that for only the second time WrestleMania 24 will be held in an outdoor venue, and that it will 'allow us to do things that we can't do indoors'. Hopefully, he means something besides just more pyro (Rumor has it that this year's WrestleMania will have 10 times more pyro than any prior events). That's cool and all, but I don't buy pay per views to watch fireworks on TV.
Coach then introduces John Cena, who gets a mixed reaction from the crowd, but there certainly seemed to be more 'boos'. Many of the crowd begin to chant 'you suck'. Cena praises and thanks Vince McMahon. He goes on to say that he, 'won't predict a win or loss, but guarantees history will be made'.
Coach then brings out Randy Orton. Randy Orton had a bad wardrobe day. He was wearing jeans with what looked like a tuxedo jacket. Typical Orton dialogue. John Cena giggles like a school girl when the crowd start chanting 'Cena'. Disgusting. Randy Orton wraps things up by saying, 'March 30th, I will not only walk out WWE champion, but no longer will I be known as the Legend Killer. March 30th I will be known as a Legend'
Next out is Triple H. Again, like Orton, typical Triple H ramblings. Hunter seemed to lose his train of thought and called the crowd 'crazy', followed with 'I forgot we were in LA'.
Triple H vows that at WrestleMania the 'King of Kings goes back on his throne'.
Coach re-takes the podium and starts talking about the Diva search. My stomach drops, because I know they are about to announce something stupid for WrestleMania. Candice Michelle and Maria come out to announce the 'first ever Playboy Bunny Mania match'. Whatever the hell that is, you can bet your ass it's gonna suck. Candice announces that it's Maria's birthday, which results in the crowd giving the worst rendition of 'Happy Birthday' that I've ever heard in my life.
The divas are followed by Edge, who basically said the same things he said on Friday Night Smackdown. 'I'm undefeated at WrestleMania too...' Blah, blah, blah...
Coach announces Rey Mysterio. Rey was wearing a god-awful black velvet mask with purple trim. It didn't go particularly well with a pinstripe suit. When Rey took the podium the mics were tall than he and began standing on his tip toes before lower the mic. He talked a bit about his injury and speaks to the crowd in a mix of English and Spanish. This would have been fine, but he never repeated in English what he said in Spanish like Ediie Guerrero used to do. Rey announced that his bicep surgery will be on Wednesday, but that it 'won't effect him helping his boy, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Every time Rey would mention Floyd Mayweather's name, the crowd erupted in boos. Vince, I hope you took note. We, the audience, do not like Floyd Mayweather.
The next bit confused me a little. I'm not sure whey it took a progression of three guys, to announce one guy.
For some reason, Coach brings out Mike Adamle. Mike rattles on about smalls guys being victorious over big guys. When Mike Adamle mentions Floyd Mayweather, the crowd boos. Mike Adamle introduces Shane McMahon.
Shane McMahon takes the podium and talks about WWE and Floyd Mayweather 'joining forces; The crowd boos. He mentions how the world is watching, and third parties such as HBO, Direct TV and Dish Network are nervous about the outcome. Personally, I don't care. After how unprofessional Mayweather was the night of Big Show's return, I hope he gets injured. That's right, I'm wishing ill on another human being. Sue me. For no apparent reason, the crowd starts a 'Cena' chant, followed by a 'Triple H' chant for no apparent reason in the middle of Shane McMahon's speech.
Shane introduces Floyd Mayweather. The fans are not happy to see him and he draw immediate heat from the crowd. The crowd stars chanting 'Yankees Suck' in response to Floyd's outfit. He stood there dumbfounded, saying nothing for roughly 5 minutes. For some reason he pulls a bundle of $100 bills out of his jacket and shows the crowd. He finally speaks... well kinda... he kept repeating 'I got all day'. The guy definitely looked rattled. The fans begin chanting 'you suck', which was followed by a 'de la Hoya' chant, which was followed by a 'Big Show' chant. Flord Mayweather then took Big Show's name placard off the table and ripped it up. For a guy that is supposedly so 'good on the mic' according to some sports writers, Floyd Mayweather is out of his element. He still is standing speechless, removed the bundle of cash and acts as if he is going to throw it into the crowd. He's that desperate, drowning that badly, that he is going to attempt to pay off the crowd. He stands on the table, flashing his money, inciting the crowd. He then jumps down and starts 'listening to the crowd' like Hulk Hogan would do. He ends up tossing money into the non-media section of the audience. After picking up the money, they continue to boo him. Floyd returns to the mic, apparently now ready to speak. He says that he is going to change the name of the WWE to the MME, Money Mayweather Entertainment. He also claims that he 'owns this city now', that he 'runs LA' and also 'runs WWE'. The crowd responds by chanting 'you suck big time'. The brags about his 'lifestyle', his 'money', and 'how good I look'. Boy, you sure do know how to win friends and influence people, Floyd. He says that he'll give people money if they tell him that he's the champ. Paying off the crowd? C'mon. Keep in mind, that this moron is saying all of these things with Shane McMahon directly to his left, champions Orton and Edge behind him, and Vince McMahon just behind the curtain. Finally, (Fi-nal-ly! ) he sits down. This was a fiasco and I want that half hour of my life back. Heh.
Mike Adamle returns to the podium to announce the Big Show. Apparently, Big Show is too big for the internet, because as his music started playing and came through the curtain my video stream disconnected. I wasn't able to rejoin the web feed. Too bad too, I would have liked to have heard the crowd chant Big Show's name and embarrass the little bastard.
I hope Vince took notes. We, the viewing audience, decide who's a heel, and who's a face. You can't force-feed us Floyd Mayweather as a face. We don't care if Rey Mysterio is supposedly his friend, and supposedly training him or not. This storyline needed a change of direction last week. I'd recommend changing it tonight on Raw. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Weekend Wrap Up: Smackdown 2/22/2008, Oscars & More
Saturday, February 16, 2008
WWE Friday Night Smackdown 2/15/2008
I can summarize last night's episode of Friday Night Smackdown in one word: 'Why?'
While that makes sense to me, it probably doesn't make sense to you, so I'll elaborate. Last night left me asking the question, 'Why?' every five minutes or so. It almost felt like I was watching an episode of TNA iMPACT! (okay, it wasn't that low quality of an experience, but still...)
Here's some bullet points:
* Batista vs. MVP - Why?
- Why was this even a match? Yes, they both are in the Elimination Chamber tomorrow, but other than that, I see no reason to put them together
- Why was MVP's gear 'way gay'? Seriously, with all that purple, black and sequin studs, it looked like he's been shopping at El Dungeon Fabuloso in West Hollywood, Dupont Circle, Haight/Ashbury, the West Village or any other notoriously homosexual neighborhood across America)
- Why was Bastista using Ric Flair's moves? (Leg clip, working the knee, figure four)
- Why is MVP being pushed so hard when Vince has a bodybuilder fetish, and he has a gut like me. Carlito said it best in an old promo with Randy Orton... 'Lovehandles? Dat's not cool'
- Why were a chorus of children (and only children) chanting 'Ba-Tis-Ta'. I swear this was piped in.
...and now a PSA... there are no shortcuts to your goals. A reminder, viewing audience, you've been put on notice too. WWE is going to suspend us all. (Are steroids really that big an issue outside of athletics? I don't think so...
* 8-man tag - Why?
- Why are Jesse and Festus getting such a push? Yeah, Festus was out two weeks but it's not like Triple H came back... not to mention it's the exact same gimmick as before he left.
- Why must Shannon Moore always be: 1) Underused -and- 2) Caught in someone's shadow (Matt Hardy's MF'er, squashed by Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, Big Show, Brock Lesnar, etc). I'm one of the biggest Jimmy Yang Wang fans there are, but Shannon Moore does cool stuff too.
- Why has the Ryder/Hawkins push that's been building up the past few weeks vanished?
Side note: JYW did one of the prettiest moonsaults I've even seen in this match
Michelle McCool vs. Victoria (Palumbo 'ride in') - Why?
- No comment. Completely pointless and a waste of airtime.
* Undertaker vs. Big Daddy V - Why?
- Why do people like 'Old School', and why would Old School even be painful, and how come Undertaker's opponents don't simply push him off the rope?
- Why must people bleed every time Taker uses his new submission? Triple H received a crushed trachea when RVD frog splashed him in the Elimination Chamber in 2002 and was out for weeks. Miraculously Viscera and Mark Henry reappeared the next week after bleeding from the mouth. (I imagine we'll see Matt Striker on Tuesday, if not tomorrow with Big Daddy V at No Way Out)
- Why do people tap out of Takers new submission instead of using that free arm to just move Undertaker's unsecured left leg?
* Kane & CM Punk vs. Chavo & Shelton Benjamin - Why?
- Why are these teams even together? There is no relationship between Kane and CM Punk, or Chavo and Shelton Benjamin. While it was good to see Shelton on-air, why not just have the CM Punk/Chavo match?
- Why can't Chavo get his part of the GTS right? The move is supposed to end with head/knee contact. Otherwise, it's just a fireman's carry gutbuster, not a GTS.
* Edge, Vickie & Rey - Oh God why?!
- Why is this storyline still going on? The 'Vickie keeps getting hurt' wheelchair gimmick sure is getting old
- Why was this storyline ever approved? Tasteless.
- Why was Edge singing Bryan Adams? WTF?
- Why is the real West Coast Pop not done anymore? A seated senton is not a West Coast Pop
The only entertaining moment of the evening (at least for me), was a seated senton into a lady in a wheel chair. I haven't laughed that hard in a long while, but it wasn't worth wading through an hour and fifty minutes of crap to see it.
So much for keeping it brief. Heh.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
WWE Smackdown! 2/1/08
Posted by Fenn Feb 2 2008 at 12:25:23 PM
I don't have a whole lot to comment on from last night's show, with the exception that it was announced that at No Way Out there will be two Elimination Chamber matches. Other than the lame 'Brothers of Destruction' reunion (was a pretty dull match, especially for a main event), that's the only thing worth talking about. T.Lo also announced there will be a Mysterio vs Edge rematch at No Way Out, but seriously, who cares? (I don't even feel the need to comment on last night's Edge/Chavo vs. Mysterio/CM Punk match)
No Way Out is shaping up to be quite the Pay Per View. So far we have two chamber matches (Smackdown: Batista, Undertaker, Big Daddy V, Khali, Finlay and MVP. Raw: Triple H, Jeff Hardy, HBK, Y2J, JBL & Umaga)), Rey Mysterio vs. Edge, John Cena vs Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy vs. Ric Flair. My guess is that they'll have to go and ruin things by also throwing in some lame Diva T&A match.
Smackdown has certainly gone downhill... not as bad as ECW, but still down hill. No one cares about the Chuck Palumbo storyline. Honestly, I can't look at that guy without remembering him prancing around in pigtails with Billy Gunn and Rico. Not to mention, he can't pull off the biker character which is an obvious rip-off of Taker's American Bad Ass.
We also don't care about Deuce & Domino. Seriously, 50's greasers are the best gimmick you can come up with?
On second thought, there was something else besides the No Way out announcement. I always enjoy watch the Jimmy Yang Wang matches... James Yun does some amazing things... I just wish his character was a little better. Ryder and Hawkins got over Shannon Moore/Yang Wang last night which makes sense... Edge & Chavo have gold... it makes sense that the rest of the stable have gold too. I suspect that this was a push for Ryder/Hawkins to win tag belts.
