Main Event 4/24/13
Leave a CommentWell here’s the results from this week’s Main Event or should I say Mark Henry’s Main Event:
Well here’s the results from this week’s Main Event or should I say Mark Henry’s Main Event:
The below show can be found here.
We began the night with Sammy Geodollno offering her services to Mercedes Martinez. Nice, cute, short, character-driven.
Kalamity vs. Leva Bates
I am looking forward to this match. Kalamity has a good look and ring presence, even though she’s somewhat lacking in height. And to me, Leva reminds a lot in-ring wise of Shawn Michaels. By appealing to the geek in all of us, she has carved herself a really nice demand. Leva was rocking the Jigsaw outfit of Saw fame. It’s not exactly my favorite outfit of her’s, but I love her variety. We had a handshake to start the match. I’m going to compare old WSU to new WSU a lot. You can already tell an improvement in the crowd. They are alive. I really like Kalamity’s hard-hitting style. Her elbows look like they kill you. And Leva bumps like “H-She-K.” (I’m coining that term right now.) Leva’s chops have the perfect combination of cute and devastating. It had really strong wrestling and great back and forth. It was the perfect match for the opener. We had a nice show of sportsmanship. I know it’s ironic that the company is called Womens Superstars Uncensored, but I would let my daughter watch this match.
Brittney Savage vs. Tina San Antonio
I am intrigued by this match, as these were two stars created by the old WSU. What will happen in this new era? Where will they go? Tina is now a heel and if I may say, a rather good one. And even though I think Savage is a better heel, she is over with the crowd and they accept her as a face. San Antonio’s ring style in this match was slow and methodical. There was a nice exchange with the roll-ups. It was good old-school wrestling. You had the heel giving out punishment with the face taking it. I really liked the story of the finish. It opens them up for a good feud. After this match, Tina is a force to be reckoned with.
Addy Starr vs. Jessie Brooks
I like Addy’s cute, quirky look. I’m not too familiar with Brooks if I have seen her at all. She looks focused, no-nonsense. So far, 3 matches, 1 heel. Brooks is a very capable wrestler but comes off a little bland. Maybe being in a Sammy G skit would have worked better for her. Starr has a nice, unique ring style. One cannot deny Brooks’ in-ring ability as we got a cattle mutilation. I really liked the exchange when Addy had Brooks in the guillotine choke. Funny I should mention Sammy G because she came down to ringside. I really liked Jessie in this match. The crowd just needs a reason to care about her. The crowd loved Addy and even an incognito Sugar Dunkerton congratulated her after the match.
Mercedes Martinez vs. LuFisto
Yes, I just wrote that. Mercedes Martinez in the ring against LuFisto. Two pioneers in this generation’s era of great women’s wrestling going at it. It didn’t start in the ring. This match started off so intensly. Why? What is the heat between them? The play-by-play guy filled us in as the match began, but why couldn’t he tell me why they hated each other as they were entering? Also, this was the first time they had ever met on American soil. Why was this not more prominent in the card or build-up? LuFisto’s kicks look like they will make your head roll. Every move she does looks like she’s going to kill you. And Mercedes is Mercedes. She’s an icon of her era. Were it not for that pesky Sara del Rey, she’d be hands-down, the best of her era. This was LuFisto’s showcase, plain and simple. If you are not a fan of LuFisto or women’s wrestling in general, you need to watch this match. I try not to use this word too much, but I’d dare call this match epic. My only complaint is that the play-by-play guy started talking about how these two might go the distance. And then he updated us they were at the 21-minute mark. I knew it was going the 30-minute draw and the rest of the match became a chore. The drama was still good enough to fool me into thinking it might end. The ladies got a standing ovation and a “That was awesome chant.” Myself, I would have been chanting “Match of the Year.”
Niya vs. Saturyne
This is an interesting match-up. There is the veteran getting one more chance story with Niya. Plus, you have the up-and-coming hot rookie with Saturyne. I would have liked to seen more of an emphasis from commentary placed on this actual match. Saturyne is quite exciting to watch in the ring. It was hard to concentrate on the in-ring action, but this was a nice short match. The crowd needed something to come down from after that LuFisto-Martinez match.
After the match, Jennifer Cruz ran in and started taking out Niya. Jana came out to Niya’s rescue. Then Jennifer took the mic and cut a nice promo, dropping a Spanish p-bomb.
Kimber Lee & Annie Social vs. Allysin Kay & Sassy Stephanie
This is where it gets hard for me to be partial as I’m a total mark for the Midwest Militia. Kay is my very favorite in-ring worker, and I have this weird schoolboy crush on Stephanie. Stephie was wearing her t-shirt from Gimick$ whom I strongly recommend for your wrestling t-shirt needs. I don’t see Lee’s and Social’s chemistry on paper. Lee is a great “girl next door” and Social is a great counter-culture heel. This was good classic tag team wrestling. Militia killed Social with the face in peril. If there are young upstarts wanting to know how to do “face in peril” from a heel’s perspective, watch this match. Kay & Stephie put on a clinic. I was ok with the non-finish. Allysin’s kick to the stumbling Kimber Lee was so wrong. It was so simple and subtle, yet so enraging.
Nikki Adams vs. Marti Belle
I should probably know her better, but I don’t think I’ve seen a Nikki Adams match before. And Marti Belle, in my opinion, has got to be the perfect combination of beauty and wrestling ability. I really didn’t get the build-up here. Who is Nikki Adams? Why does she have that title shot? Nikki had good crowd engagement. Marti as champ has a certain swagger about her. She now looks like a top name. The commentary started off really strong here. There are going to be some people watching WSU for the first time. They put over the Spirit championship and what it means to the former champ Jana who was doing the commentary. Adams worked a very strong heel style and Marti bumped like crazy for her. Watching Adams reminds me of watching an 80’s old school heel, like how every inch of that thing is a weapon for her. I thought this was a good match to add credibility to Adams. Plus we had the build-up with Ezavel Sueña.
Lexxus vs. Alicia vs. Jessicka Havok
This is Lexxus’ big chance as a main eventer. Alicia is the icon of WSU so I can see how she figured prominently in this match. And then there’s Jessicka freakin’ Havok. She is the best female wrestler not currently signed to the big two, and arguably the best wrestler, male or female, not currently signed to the big two. The commentary helped put this match in perspective nicely. There were some pretty cool spots. It just didn’t quite click for me like I thought it should. I wonder if it’s that I knew there was no way Havok was losing here. But they made Lexxus look like she belonged in the top spot. And Alicia served to take the pin so they can do Lexxus-Havok in the future. Lexxus-Havok is not done, and I think there was enough here to establish Lexxus as a credible contender.
We ended with Sammy G offering her services to Jessie Brooks, which I think is great.
All in all… I followed the company before the new ownership and am somewhat of a WSU mark so this was quite interesting for me.
1. There was SUCH an emphasis on the wrestling in this show. There wasn’t as much “garbage” and insultingly bad gimmicks. Wrestling mattered here.
2. Production values were so much better than the old WSU. I could hear the announcers. It just looked night and day with the difference.
3. I’d like to hear some consistency in the commentary. I’d like to hear a permanent person in color commentary, like a lady who’s given everything for the industry, like an Amy Lee or Cindy Rogers. Alicia’s a company icon; maybe she’d fit well in the role.
If you have never seen women’s wrestling, this is a really good DVD to start off with. LuFisto-Martinez is worth seeing for any wrestling fan. Kay/Stephie was a tag wrestling clinic. And something stands out to me about Saturyne. I feel like we are on the cusp of something very special with her. Most everything seemed to click.
To get this show, click here.
We open with a recap of last week’s main event, Punk vs. Vince. The match ends with Punk running into the stands and Vince demanding that Punk choose either Cena or Ryback to face at Hell in the Cell, or Vince will choose for him.
The show begins with the Show – Big Show to be exact. He complains about the “joke” debate he had with Sheamus, demands we watch the recap of him blocking a Brogue Kick, (we do,) and challenges Daniel Bryan to face him in a match, to avenge his 45 second world title reign.
Backstage, R-Truth tells “Little Jimmy” to pay close attention to the monitor. Bryan refuses to go out. RAW GM AJ Lee orders him to go, Kane-his tag team partner-laughs at the thought of having Bryan’s back. Bryan shouts “NO!” Santino and Ryder shout “YES!” Bryan shouts “NO!” R-Truth shouts “YES!” Bryan shouts “NO,” to Little Jimmy, everyone shouts “YES!” Bryan walks to the ring, and rips up a young fan’s paper “goat face” mask.
BIG SHOW VS WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPION(S) DANIEL BRYAN – Competitive match that goes more than 45 seconds. Bryan hits multiple high-spots however this ends with a choke-slam and a three-count for the Big Show. After the match, Kane comes out to gloat – at first, but when Show teases a WMD, Kane jumps in and protects Bryan.
After a break, we have Paul Heyman in the ring with a covered easel. He introduces our WWE champion for the past 330 days, C.M. Punk. Punk refers to J.R. as “good ol’ bucket head,” and makes it clear he doesn’t care who it is…
“Disrespect me, I put you down.” – C.M. Punk
Punk goes on to reference last week’s show where “typical Vince,” tried to make the show all about himself (author’s note: as opposed to?) and how Punk slapped him in the face, and how two Superstars – Cena and Ryback – had to save him. He then shows us the Hell in the Cell poster, depicting him as the Devil. Punk claims to be an angel compared to any of us, and while he feels angels and devils “don’t exist,” he is willing to play “make believe” with us “for five minutes,” and refers to Cena and Ryback as “the devil you know,” (Cena) vs. “The devil you don’t know” (Ryback.) Punk teases the reveal of his choice by going over to the easel, then decides we need to learn to be patient, and decides he needs more time. This brings out Vince McMahon to tell him he “blew it,” and by the end of the night, there will be a contract signing where Vince will choose Punk’s challenger.
“Your fate, at Hell in the Cell, is now in my hands, respect that”- Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
Now you’re probably wondering “isn’t this the same thing Punk was going to do? Make us wait for the big reveal?” You’re missing the point.
This way, we’re waiting for VINCE to make the announcement.
After all, why would we want to focus on the WWE champion all night?
We go to a promo for the Susan G. Komen foundation and breast cancer awareness month, with Layla telling us about losing her mom to breast cancer. If this is true (and I am NOT calling Layla a liar, I’m speaking in terms of work/shoot,) then I have a whole new respect for Layla.
Back from break, we have a recap of Randy Orton surprising Alberto Del Rio on Smackdown last Friday.
ALBERTO DEL RIO VS BRODUS CLAY – Del Rio’s aggressiveness completely negates any advantage Clay’s size/strength might give him. Despite some hard shots, Del Rio’s agility and attack on the left arm gets him the victory w/the arm breaker.
Backstage: Punk is NOT happy with this turn of events. He sends Heyman to challenge Vince to a rematch from last week. Heyman goes, reluctantly.
Santino Morella and Zack Ryder head to the ring as we go to break.
PRIME TIME PLAYERS VS CO-BRO (SANTINO/RYDER) – Match is in progress as we come back from break. The match breaks down into a quick spot-fest with Titus O’Neal hitting a D-Lo Brown style power-bomb/spin-buster and getting the tree-count for the PTP.
After the match, Santino gets a beat down from Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, and Drew McIntyre, now in matching outfits, and officially known as “3MB.”
After a break, we get a recap of Vince’s ultimatum to Punk.
Vicki Guerro asks us to “EXCUSE” her, so she can introduce Dolph Ziggler. Dolph cuts a promo on Ryback and demands a shot at Punk. David Otunga comes out, cuts a promo on Ziggler and Vicki, and demands a shot at punk. AJ Lee comes out, and puts them in a handicap match against Ryback.
RYBACK VS SHO-TUNGA (DOLPH ZIGGLER/DAVID OTUNGA) – Ziggler bails on his partner, and Ryback shell-shocks Otunga for the win.
What was supposed to happen?
Backstage; Vince is on the phone when he’s interrupted by “a plague of locusts.” Paul Heyman – plague in question – proposes a rematch with Punk where, if Punk “should happen” to win, he gets to pick his opponent for HitC. Vince counter-offers with the idea of HEYMAN facing Vince in the ring for Punk’s option to choose. Heyman starts whining and Vince shouts him out of the office, because that wouldn’t have been interesting.
Elsewhere backstage; Matt Stryker requests an apology from team “Hell No,” for their attack on him last Friday on Smackdown, he makes the mistake of using the word “crazy,” and AJ puts him in a match w/Kane.
After the break, we see video of Cena being named honorary captain of the NY Jets football team. I’m sure that won’t come back to haunt anyone.
U.S. CHAMPION ANTONIO CESARO VS JUSTIN GABRIEL – Cesaro is getting the reverse booking of Ryback, getting hard fought wins while making his opponents look good. Gabriel gets in a lot of offense, including a sic 450 off the top, but it ends with Cesaro hitting the “Neutralizer” for the three-count.
After the break, we see Matt Stryker in the ring, and Kane makes his entrance w/pyro.
WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPION(S) KANE VS MATT STRYKER – Stryker tries to talk his way out of this match, Kane agrees to “hug it out” w/him. Kan doesn’t let go however, and after a vicious shaking, Stryker takes a choke-slam. Kane decides to “interview” an unconscious Stryker and loudly declares “I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!”
We get a recap of the lousy Larry King segment from last week and a promo for “MizTV” after the break.
We come back to the MizTV segment. I’ll cut to the chase. Miz insults Kofi, Kofi challenges him to a match, Miz says Kofi will never be more than his catch phrase, Kofi jumps Miz and trashes the set. According to the announce team, AJ has confirmed the match.
Back from break, we get a recap of the Big Show catching Sheamus by the foot and tossing him out of the ring last week.
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION SHEAMUS VS WADE BARRETT – Hard fought brawl with the pace slowly building while the tide turns back and forth. After the first few minutes, Big Show comes out to ringside as we go to commercial.
Back from the break, Sheamus and Barrett trade heavy shots and take turns tossing each other around, until Show pulls down the top rope, and Sheamus goes over and out to the floor. Sheamus gets the DQ, and gets in a Brogue kick to Barrett before sending Show out the ring w/a clothesline.
After a recap of the Vince/Punk face off, we get Vince in the back with Cena. Vince asks Cena about what his doctor said, Cena says it doesn’t matter, and tells Vince it’s up to him.
Divas Champion Eve comes out to the ring as we go to break.
DIVAS CHAMPION EVE TORRES VS LAYLA (DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP) – We get a quick recap of how Eve got the title shot at Night Of Champions after Kaitlyn (who Layla was supposed to face) was injured by a “mysterious attacker.” Match is better than you’d expect with the exception of a few unconvincing kicks by Layla, and ends with the ref counting three on Layla despite her foot being on the ropes. Eve knocks it off after the three-count but before the ref sees it.
We go to a spot with Stephanie McMahon speaking about the WWE’s partnership with NothingButNets.com, a charity for underprivileged youth.
Backstage; Kane is laughing at Bryan’s misfortune after facing Big Show. Bryan dares Kane to face Big Show next week.
Rhodes Scholars come out for their tag match, after the break.
We come back with 3MB rushing the stage at a nearby bar. They act like they’re going to play but security throws them out.
RHODES SCHOLARS (CODY RHODES/DAMIEN SANDOW) VS PRIMO/EPICO W/ROSA – We are told the tag team tournament finals will be next week, when Cody and Damien face Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara. This is a solid but standard tag with Rhodes and Sandow getting the win.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION THE MIZ VS KOFI KINGSTON – Quick hard fought match ends with Miz taking a SCARY “trouble in paradise” kick to the face. Kofi gets a three-count and Miz gets an open head wound.
We get an announcement of the Rolling Stones PPV concert sponsored by WWE.
The show ends with the HitC contract signing. Punk goes off on Vince but Cena interrupts him, and actually hypes the crow into a “FEED ME MORE” chant. The show ends with Vince giving Ryback the shot and Ryback giving Punk the shell-shock.
We’re hot off the heels of an… interesting WrestleMania, to say the least. And we already have our main event for next year! What’s in store for this week’s SmackDown!? Let’s find out, shall we?
Well here we are the time of year that is almost Wrestlemania time as college basketball hits it’s tournament to crown a National Champion (GO ORANGE!) but since this is a wrestling website, and Wrestlemania is only 2 weeks away I think there should be some wrestlemaina talk so lets go: (more…)
Hello BWFers! Apologies for the extreme lateness of this report – I’m just back from a hectic weekend in London with some friends. Better late than never though, right?
So, let’s have a quick wee look at this week’s SmackDown!, shall we?
So, as I often do when RAW rolls into Buffalo, I went to last night’s show and planned to write about it afterward, complete with any media that I managed to capture via my camera. Unfortunately, my computer doesn’t like the memory card I have in there and I cannot find the USB cable at the moment, so we’re going to have to go without it – which absolutely sucks because I have a video on there of Cena trashing The Rock again after the show.
The dark match last night was Tyson Kidd taking on former NXT rookie Percy Watson. Surprisingly, Watson picked up the win. He looked a little different than I remember him, but of course I was in the very last row of the 300 level, so my vision might have been off a bit.
SPOILER ALERT: If you watch “Superstars” on Thursday and wish to not be spoiled, please skip the next two paragraphs…
Superstars kicked off with a match between R-Truth and William Regal, in which Truth picked up the victory.
That was followed by a tag team match pitting Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov (with Tamina) against Zack Ryder and Primo. Of course you know, Santino pinned Ryder after hitting the Cobra. Fellow fans on the bus were discussing the effectiveness of The Cobra on the way back home from the show.
We love Triple H here in Buffalo. We knew better than to expect The Undertaker, so at least where I was sitting, nobody was terribly upset that he hadn’t shown up. We were all surprised by the immediate beat-down of Sheamus, who incidentally made his RAW debut in the HSBC Arena.
We also love Evan Bourne – great to see him back and looking in top form!
Michael Cole headed down to the ring, and what you guys didn’t see was that the crew came back out to set the announce table back up and Cole actually walked to the back. Probably to generate a little more heat coming back from the break. My attempts at starting an “AND I QUOTE” chant were futile.
Yours truly now owns a New Nexus t-shirt. I was debating whether to get this one or The Miz’s “Hello, I’m Awesome” t-shirt but ultimately settled for this, as I’m a huge Punk mark. I think I’m the only one though – it was a decidedly pro-Orton crowd. Aly didn’t use this one in her review, but I tweeted “Why doesn’t the GM do something? The damned match was over!” after Orton kicked McGuillicutty in the head. Guess we won’t be seeing him for a while.
I absolutely love the fact that people can’t stand The Miz. This is not “X-Pac heat” he’s getting, this is legit heel heat. The man is doing his job, and everything he said during his promo about how he’s the WWE Champion and should be the focus of the company, not Cena and The Rock, is absolutely true. Of course, then John Cena came out and ruined it by making poop and pee jokes – not to mention spewing enough homophobic rhetoric that I’m surprised GLAAD isn’t all over him today. I’m surprised he didn’t finish up with the old Seinfeld line, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Of course, this was all to set up the main event – a cage match between Cena and Alex Riley. Yes, Alex Riley main evented RAW last night.
So then we got a Divas Battle Royal. All of the participants and guest commentator Eve made it to the ring with about 30 seconds left before the commercial break ended. That’s how much they care about the Divas on RAW. And of course, the Bellas won with predictable ending number 37: Twin Magic.
Now, the next segment. The next segment is going to be the subject of this week’s “A Minute With ThinkSoJoE,” so I’m only going to touch on it briefly – Screw The Rock.
At least Shawn Michaels wasn’t publicized to be a part of the show beforehand, and his segment was kept short. I still say I could’ve stayed home and watched RAW on TV for free instead of paying $70 for two tickets and watching it on TV at the HSBC Arena.
Daniel Bryan, thanks for coming. You, Sheamus, and Michael McGuillicutty please enjoy your kayfabe stay at Mercy Hospital here in Buffalo.
Of course John Cena was going to win that cage match. You really didn’t think so? Still, The Miz got the last word in again as he left Cena lying on the floor following another Skull Crushing Finale. By the way, The Miz sent a twitpic, or whatever you call them these days, during the match. Here it is:
@MikeTheMiz Say cheese!
Cena also tweeted from Miz’s phone during the match. He sent the same picture with the tweet, Hey cenation, come look how good I look!
After RAW went off the air, we still got our advertised dark main event – John Cena and Randy Orton vs. The Miz and CM Punk. The heels took turns wailing away on Cena before Orton got the hot tag and cleaned house. He hit RKOs on both opponents but Cole refused to count, instead running away. Another referee came out and Orton and Cena picked up the win, pinning CM Punk.
Following the match – and this is the important part right here – John Cena had this to say:
“I got something to say to you. I got something to say to all ‘yall. First things first. Randy Orton, thank you. Thank you. After filming RAW television, flying 15 hours to South America to perform four times for sold out shows below the Equator, then flying 15 hours back here to be in Buffalo, New York. To physically be here to stand here in this ring, thank you. Thank you, Randy Orton, for showing up. Now then. People as far as I can see, totally sold out here in Buffalo. I’d just like to make a point that it’s not 14,000, it’s 16,700 people here tonight, and a certain individual would know that – if he showed up. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to end this night with a most important message to all of you: Thank you. Thank you all for the same sacrifices Randy Orton made, thank you for making this program what it is, thank you for being excited to see WrestleMania, but most of all, thank you for showing up.”
As I wonder if the cold and snow will ever end here (were probably gonna break a record this year) I sit and realize, wait this weekend both the AFC and NFC champions will be crowned. I’ll have my picks later on in this article here’a a hint and possibly another here (sorry I just had to). But hey I think there may be some wrestling to talk about: (more…)
Rather ironically, when I was approached about penning a column on wrestling house shows – I picked up the latest copy of the UK-based grap magazine “Fighting Spirit Magazine”, only to find that they themselves had written an article dedicated to the art and history of the non-televised event. This has happened to me quite a few times in the past when writing for various websites and it’s always freaked me out. I start thinking about an idea for an article, randomly flick through some old or current wrestling mag/book and see what I thought was my idea spread out across the page! This particular instance was no different to all the other ones and actually made me laugh a little bit, kinda like Michael Cole does when John Cena acts all immature. Thankfully, the piece was an awesome read and really helped get my creative juices flowing for putting together my own diatribe.
Still I find myself lacking the means to really write as many columns as I would like. We don’t have internet in our new flat yet and therefore I’m only managing to write this due to being home for the weekend to visit my family and spend some time chilling out. Quite honestly, I can think of no better ways to relax than watching, thinking and talking about professional wrestling. With that said, let’s take a look at the wonderful world of ‘wrestling on tour’..
Earlier this month, my good friend Richard Flynn (who is responsible for this weeks WWE Smackdown report – check it out!) and I attended a WWE live event featuring the superstars of the Friday Night Smackdown brand in action. This is a pretty regular occurrence nowadays; for us to attend these shows. On a few occasions in the past, other friends have joined us for a night of live and in colour wrasslin’ entertainment but most of the time it’s simply Flynn and myself geeking it up. To say I love spending time with the guy and watching wrestling with him would be an understatement. The amount of hours we’ve let go past by watching WWE and TNA shows is probably mind-boggling. Not to mention the oodles of time we’ve dedicated to chatting about the aforementioned companies and also our favourite moments from the past. Seriously, we have spent a lot of time thinking about wrestling together. We seem to feed off one another’s passion and it has made for some very cool and very pleasurable afternoons and evenings, to say the least.
Our continued excitement at attending these WWE and TNA shows is equal to that of pretty much any kid you know who likes wrestling. I’m glad I can say with all seriousness that I am just as thrilled by the thought of seeing this brand of entertainment live today as I would have been had I been fortunate enough to grab tickets for a show when I was 10 years old. Rather unfortunately, whenever the then WWF and then WWE visited these shores back then, I always found myself facing a ticket hotline with no more remaining tickets. As much as my parents tried (my mum phoned as early as she could every time and my dad even drove the 150 miles from our home in Campbeltown to Glasgow on the off chance the venue would still have some seats left), it just never seemed to happen. This is probably just aswell – 10 year old me would likely have passed out with excitement had he been privy to The Rock or Triple H up close!
As it pertains to the day-to-day running of any wrestling organisation, there can be no arguments that non-televised or “house” show events are the least important they have been for quite some time, maybe even in the entire history of the industry. There is far more stress placed on the signification of a Pay-Per-View event or the rating for an episode of Monday Night RAW than there is for how many fans are drawn to arenas for the next WWE nationwide tour. House shows used to be the place to see your chosen wrestling promotion but has in more recent times been usurped by TV tapings and major shows such as “Wrestlemania”. This shouldn’t take away from the overall necessity of a company touring the country or indeed the world however, far from it. The revenue boosts WWE alone will feel from visiting the UK must be worth the trip. In between ticket sales (and the fact these tickets are snapped up readily due to the scant nature of shows in any given town each year), merchandise and crossover TV appearances, it’s clearly worth the promotions while to head on over the Atlantic frequently. It’s also a valuable tool for TNA, who have played before their biggest crowds when not in the United States. Big, American pro wrestling companies are simply devoured quickly in foreign markets, such is the fascination with only having one or two chances per annum to see them.
Due to this shift in how a wrestling company, specifically WWE, views its un-televised product, it’s far more of a mixed bag when you attend one these shows. What I’m getting at here is that it’s a clear learning ground for younger members of the roster and a chance for established superstars to try out new things and further develop their characters, far away from the scathing perfection of television. It has been really rather interesting to view things at the handful of house shows Richard and I have bought tickets to which would NEVER feature on WWE TV or PPV. As mentioned before, this can bring both positives and negatives along with it. It’s engrossing to view someone such as Chavo Guerrero, a man scarcely used on the air, be allowed to partake in a 12-minute long match and fully show off his skills to the audience. On the other side of the coin, it can be disheartening to know that nothing of any great significance is likely to happen on the show in your town.
This leads me rather nicely onto an argument which has been permeating wrestling writers and fans over and across the world; have WWE officials decreed that their wrestlers shouldn’t work quite so hard and take so many chances at a non-televised show as they would when the cameras are rolling, thus reducing the risk of injuring themselves or a peer?
If this is the case then it could be argued as short-changing the loyal fan who is excited to see the company and expects to see something pretty close to what he sees on TV each and every week. Surely, with the prices as they are for admission to the typical WWE or TNA house show (I.e not very cheap!), it’s not being cheeky to expect a level of performance matching that of what you are used to. To be completely fair to TNA, they encourage their performers to give their all, regardless of the platform or if the event is being filmed. Having witnessed this with my own 2 eyes, it does make for a thrilling spectacle.
Again, using the proverbial “other side”, I really don’t think the overall feel of the shows have suffered that much. Having been in attendance for a couple of RAW-brand house shows and a few Smackdown-brand ones, the match-quality has been pretty darn good. Sure, there are restholds and not nearly as many high-flying antics as we would see on TV but it’s not exactly a million miles away from your typical match on Monday Night RAW. Infact, I’d go as far to say that the promotion makes up for this with some well-placed and excellently executed (oh boy..) storyline goodness. This writer can recall just earlier this month some TV-inspired goings on with the “Nexus” stable and also some in-ring promo’s which draw you closer into the show. Therefore, I don’t think it’d be fair to say that either WWE nor TNA treat the fans with disdain in the house show market, certainly not on this side of the pond.
With all this said, what do YOU think? Have you attended a WWE or TNA house show event in which you’ve wished you’d saved your money? Did you wish instead that you’d spend some extra cash to go to a TV taping or Pay-Per-View? Or were you like me and felt both companies did their utmost to put on a good evenings entertainment and ensure the fans would come back in droves the next time around? Your thoughts are every bit as important as mine and opinions are definitely a huge part of what makes Bored Wrestling Fan and wrestling fans in general so great! Let me know what you reckon, either by leaving me a comment below or by sending me a quickfire email to jamiekennedy@live.com ! Until the next time, TAKE IT HOME! To your house. To your house uh…show..
Hello everyone, I’m here with a RAW Review Insert (because I don’t know what else to call it) to fill you in on what happened last night at the Amway Center, where I was in attendance!
First off, funny story, since I saw that ThinkSoJoE mentioned this last night: We thought it was the Amway Arena too. Turns out, the Amway Arena is closed. So we got to Orlando a ridiculous three hours before the tickets said to show up, and walked around the Amway Arena (and got a picture of a production truck), only to see that it was closed. We had two different sets of directions to go off of, so at least we knew where we were supposed to go. We got there and stood in line for an eternity. I saw someone dressed up as Hogan (who ended up up front, that bastard), and then someone dressed up as The Miz with his old ring gear, flame-decorated fedora and all. I couldn’t get a picture of him because he walked away too fast, but it did make standing in that damn line tolerable.
Minor Superstar Spoilers coming now.
Justin Roberts told us that we were starting out with a match. It was Goldust vs some guy whose name I can’t remember. Orlando LOVES Goldust, just to let you know. Cheered him on loud. It was pretty damn cool. He lost, unfortunately, but he’s… electric in person, to make a bad pun.
King and the new guy for Superstars came out. We all clapped and cheered a little for the new guy, but King got a standing ovation, and after he sat down, some Jerry chants. He laughed and waved. Pretty neat.
Next up was Santino (who got a HUMONGOUS pop) and Vladimir Kozlov (who also got a humongous pop, but Santino’s was bigger). I saw a couple Santino signs floating around, so that was cool. They were up against Ryder and Primo, who were the hated enemies. Pretty good match, and Santino is… crazier in person. Something I learned: Zack Ryder can’t seem to keep his trunks over the very bottom portion of his ass. I’m not sure you needed – or wanted – to know that, but there it is. Santino and Kozlov won after a Cobra, which we continuously called for. Made the night that much better.
Here is where Michael Cole came out, to a series of boos and cheers, and he pointed at one Cole-hating sign and laughed, then pointed at mine, mouthed the words, and laughed too. Apparently, he likes the whole heel-Cole thing. He’s good at it, and seemed to be a pretty decent guy. Justin Roberts told us here that they were going to do the pre-RAW sweep over of the crowd to get signs and what not, so that’s why Cole was there. Then, Cole moved for the new guy.
Usos and Henry were at it again for Superstars. Tamina joined the Usos, but we all seemed to hate them (I like the Usos, but I really wanted to cheer, so I just stuck with what was going on. Minor shame, but I had fun). Mark Henry won that one, painfully, by stacking the Usos on top of one another and then just slamming his whole body weight down on top of the both of them, and then hitting the one who had been on bottom with the World’s Strongest Slam. Night night.
Superstar spoilers over.
Then it was time for RAW!!! We did NOT want Barrett talking. Every time he started, we kept shutting him up. I had to stop at one point from booing him to laugh. I have no idea what he said, except he insulted us once, I think, and continued to look REALLY pissed off as we booed him. The SHUT UP COLE sign you saw behind Cole when he stood up to read the email was mine. J The same one he laughed at. It made me happy.
During this first commercial break, we were shown WWE commercials: Knucklehead, Wrestlemania, Wrestlemania Reading Challenge, Smackdown vs RAW 2011, a Legendary, and the History of the WWE Championship were all the commercials we saw. There was a Kiss Cam, and Josh Matthews did come out to show everyone signs. Those were the only unique things that happened during commercials. Otherwise, I just got to see more of the matches.
CM Punk came out to a HUGE pop here, which is a little surprising. We don’t care that he was a villain on Smackdown, because he provides witty commentary. Sheamus came out to a surprisingly huge pop, and there was a green sign behind Cole that had “IT’S A SHAMEFUL THING LOBSTER HEAD” on top, a white stick figure thing of Sheamus below that, and then “TOO MANY LIMES TOO MANY LIMES” on the bottom. If you saw it, that was me. If not, well… fine then. R-Truth came out to a huge pop too, and I was all confused by the What’s Up song, but I didn’t say anything. R-Truth has run his course with me. Got a bunch of good pictures of Sheamus, btw. His hair’s not as red in person, but he’s just as white. Pretty decent match, crowd was divided on who they were behind though. Oh, and when Sheamus hit the High Cross on Truth, he bounced really, really high. I was stuck giggling and missed the pin, but Sheamus won.
Since the announcers plugged it here, I bought the John Cena experience. Yeah. I did.
We all laughed at the backstage segments. LayCool was booed until Natalya came on, and she was cheered so loud that I missed what she said, but that’s alright. Randy was cheered so I missed his question, but that’s also alright. The crowd seemed excited for the Ezekiel Jackson vs The Miz match, but I was more.
When Alex Riley came out by himself, I wanted to punch him. I admit I laughed at Miz having an anxiety attack (and even harder this morning when I found out that @TKeep123 anticipated I may have kidnapped him… Not this time, Fred!!), but I cheered for Alex. Ezekiel is HUGE in person. I think the guy’s muscles have muscles have muscles. Good match though.
Random note now that I’m thinking about it: To whoever kept screaming at me to put my sign down, screw you honey. I don’t care that you can’t see. That’s what that GIANT screen at the top of the ramp is for. Dumbass.
HUGE pop for Cena. We continued to cheer for him throughout the entire time he was out there, and when he wanted us to do the “Let’s Go Cena” “Cena Sucks” thing, it was even louder in person. I think it echoed even after he stopped it. And @Niki_Sushi texted me practically jumping down my throat to find out what he said here, and he said that it may be bending the censors, but he was already fired, and told Barrett that karma was a bitch. We all cheered for possibly breaking the PG barrier. Cena chants followed him up the ring the entire time. He also mentioned that someone may be having a heart attack that he was going over his allotted time, but we still didn’t care. That actually made us cheer again.
Ted and Maryse came out during the commercial to a huge pop (at least from me). Maryse is SOO pretty in person, and Ted is gorgeous. Gonna say that now. Maryse walked around as Ted paced back and forth, we got another commercial (which screwed me up), and then Daniel Bryan came down with Bella Hoe #1, and got a huge pop from everyone (but me). Pretty good match, and Ted is brutal in person. The Bellas are almost pretty in person (I can’t stand them and they aren’t that pretty to me), and are kind of idiotic. They went to hold the ropes apart for Bryan, but held the bottom ropes, then started for the middle one, then went back to the bottom one. He kind of laughed at them and then went through the middle and top. Boy, they must’ve felt like morons.
Natalya came out to a huge pop, and I only got pictures of the back of her head. The woman is in constant motion. Alicia even got a bit of a pop, and her strut is… it made my hips hurt. Never done that on TV, but did in person. Someone, get her a doctor, please! We all made that, “Oooh, now you gonna get it” noise when she ripped out Natalya’s hair, and I would have died had Natalya retaliated by ripping Ailcia’s off. Good match though. Natalya’s a strong woman.
I have no idea what Melina and Morrison were talking about either. But GOD, Morrison is pretty in person. I think we were more excited about his pyrotechnics than him though, gonna be honest. Tyson got a pretty huge pop too. The Flying Chuck looked hella painful, and Morrison almost missed the ropes, when he jumped the corner there to hit it. Either way, good match.
Randy came out to a huge pop, and we were pissed when Nexus came out to jump him. I actually think that the whole Amway Center collectively gasped and tried to warn him at the same time. He limped backstage, then Barrett came back out and we booed. Then, of course, Randy came back out and we cheered. Great match, and only half of us were sitting. Cena came out and we lost our minds, then Randy hit the RKO and we did again. When Miz’s music hit, I was the only one who cheered, and everyone else booed. Half the arena joined me as Miz picked up momentum, but when he hit the Skull Crushing Finale, we all cheered, though I was louder. I was going to go home pissed if I didn’t see him (haha, no one thought that, I’m sure), but I did! And he won! And he looked like he was going to cry, and I felt so happy I thought I was gonna puke, and it was fantastic.
Look, here’s what I’m saying: If you ever have the chance to go, DO IT! Doesn’t matter where your seats are, just go. It was my first Live RAW, and I’m going to make it to whatever live show I can afford from now on. It was amazing. There was no dark main event match, but they sent me home more than happy.
Oh, and to the upset little girl whose face was shown after, Haha sweetie. Haha.
And a huge thank you to ThinkSoJoE for covering last night for me. You did a great job!! And steal all the images you want. 🙂 That’s what they’re there for.