Post by Goldash on Dec 15, 2008 10:38:00 GMT -5
Last night, Vince and I ventured to the heart of "URWL Country", HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo, where, ironically, last year at this time, the URWL held its first-ever "Discontent" pay-per-view extravaganza. It was like seeing the arena from an entirely different perspective. All right, all fun and jokes aside, it was an electric atmosphere in the HSBC Arena last night. We did make a URWL sign but we were so high up (in the 300's) that no one probably could see it on TV. Oh, well. If I find a picture of the HD feed, I'll see if I can find it in the vast sea of spectators.
So, was this event a disaster on the level of Buffalo's last pay per view, the 2005 Great American Bash? Or was it a blessing from the Wrestling Gods? Let's go match-by-match and see:
Dark Match: Miz and Morrison vs. Jesse and Festus
OK, Vince and I were scratching our heads after this one. How the hell are Jesse and Festus over? As soon as the opening chord of "Biscuits and Gravy" (a horrible, horrible theme) hit, the crowd erupted. Wha...?! We even heard "FES-TUS" chants during the match. Luckily, some guy in our section broke out with "ROH, ROH" chants for no good reason, balancing out the stupidity with even more stupidity. But at least it wasn't "FES-TUS, FES-TUS". Miz and Morrison, fresh off winning the Tag Team Titles at a house show from Punk and Kofi, were holding their Slammys in hand and rubbing it in the booing audience's face. All in all, it was pretty unspectacular, except for the fact that Festus tried to go to the top rope for a move, which ended up becoming a spectacular disaster. Some botches here and there, but then again, it wasn't televised, so I think they botched just to flip the middle finger to creative. But that's just my opinion. Miz and Morrison win. Average all around. 2.5/5
Matt Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov (Non-Title Match)
Before I begin, I'd like to point out how much Kuleshov and Kozlov are alike. Both are undefeated, both squashed their fair share of people, and both hate America. Well, at least Kozlov hates America. I chock that up to not enough character development on Kuleshov's end. But oh well. Other than that, they're polar opposites. Anyhoo, Kule...I mean KOZLOV's streak continues with a pretty advantageous victory over the world's tallest midg...I mean the ECW Champion, Matt Hardy. By no means was it a squash, but Hardy never really built up that much steam, despite almost landing the Twist of Fate. What I don't get, though, is why Kozlov's punches and basic suplexes hurt so much. Oh, well, probably because of the stiffness of it all. Kudos to WWE for showing us Vladimir's anger through close-ups of his face just scowling into space. 2/5
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (Intercontinental Championship #1 Contender Tournament Finals)
Match of the night, quality-wise. The casual fans, as a whole were on Rey's side, while the marks in the crowd cheered Punk on. Basically, it was another case of "kids vs. pimply-faced adults". I kid, I kid, since there wasn't any acne on my face on this fortunate evening. Awesome creativity on both ends, though, it was exactly the kind of result I thought would happen between these two. Rey showed that he has a good technical side by reversing a lot of Punk's big moves, while Punk showed that he was not only able to keep pace with Rey Jr. but match Rey's creativity in the ring. Tons of near-falls, kick-outs, reverals...it was exciting. However, at the end of the match, Punk apparently broke Rey's nose with an apparently botched GTS that actually made contact...not sure whose fault it was, though. Punk had some blood on his face (not sure how that happened) and Rey was legimately favoring his face. Instantly after the match ended, Punk checked on Rey and helped him up, which could either be a sign of concern or a work due to two faces being in the match. I couldn't tell. Rey looked like he was in some amount of pain, though. Punk celebrated while Regal looked on, golf-clapping. Good to see Punk's not going to waste, although Rey should be used more effectively on Raw...anyhoo, like I said, MOTN quality-wise. 4/5
Finlay vs. Mark Henry - Belfast Brawl
OK, if Punk/Rey was the MOTN quality-wise, this had to be the antithesis. Despite his age, I think Finlay's an OK wrestler. But it would be wise of WWE to get rid of Mark Henry as quick as possible after the 10-year contract he signed 10 years ago is up. Tony Atlas is a great manager, though, a rare breed in the new WWE. I'd rather watch him, in his old age, than Henry. But like him or not, he's somehow getting heat. And I swore I heard crickets every time he came out. I guess not. Oh, well. The HSBC Arena, ring crew or whoever, had a real problem choosing weaponry, it was laughable. Only singapore canes and trash cans were used. At one point in the match, Finlay brought out the shillelagh, but Henry caught him in mid-swing and threw it away. Then, in order to demonstrate how strong he truly is, Henry broke the shillelagh in half over his thigh!!! What's even more hilarious is, a few minutes later, Henry did the exact same thing with a sinagpore cane. Hornswoggle eventually intervened, which signaled the beginning of the end. He popped out from underneath the apron momentarily, tried to enter the ring, but got knocked off by Henry. He then disappeared under the apron, provoking Tony Atlas to search for him on one side of the ring. He then appeared on another side of the ring, handed Finlay another shillelagh and, boom. Match over. Afterward, Finlay and Horny celebrate, and in something right out of the Wrestlecrap archives, Finlay gives the halved shillelagh to Hornswoggle. Henry's skills, combined with an ending that sounds good on paper but came off as anticlimactic made this match good enough for a bathroom break. 1/5
JBL and HBK Talk To The People
Not a match, just a full-fledged, match-long segment. HBK comes out and says he's fallen on hard times and basically sold out to JBL, while admitting JBL's a bully and a jerk. Plenty of opportunities for JBL to exert cheap heat by insulting Buffalo, but he never opens his mouth. In a weird move, JBL leaves the ring first, leaving HBK to slowly saunter down the ramp to boos from the audience, who chanted "You Sold Out" through the segment...or was it "You Screwed Bret"? I have no idea.
Randy Orton vs. Batista
I like to think Buffalo is the first place Batista got cheered, and where the "Ba-Ti-Sta" chant started. It was back in the Evolution days, on a Raw where, basically, HHH, Batista and Flair faked breaking up and basically laughed at the audience afterward, calling us idiots for falling for such a thing. But, in a way, Batista owes Buffalo, and Buffalo certainly welcomed him with open arms, delivering the second-biggest pop of the night. Anyway, the match was all right by me, despite how Randy and Batista always fail to blow me away talent-wise. One of the best spots of the entire night came from this match: Batista set up Randy for a Batista Bomb, but Randy wriggled out and hit an inverted RKO/neckbreaker hybrid (not quite sure what it looked like but it was one of those). Both Randy and Dave have great in-ring chemistry, and because of that, they should meet more often in the ring. Lots of reversals and big spots, I was actually really impressed. In the end, Batista wins, essentially saying that this angle won't last long...but who knows. 3.5/5
4-on-4 Divas "Santa's Little Helper" Match
I don't usually like to review WWE Divas matches unless they strike me as impressive (or essentially mirror the Stratus/Victoria hardcore match at Survivor Series 2002). This one didn't stand out at all, so I won't elaborate or give a rating. Michelle McCool's skills, though, seem to be improving. And although I was a Natalie Niedhart mark back when she was in the independent circuit, I really can't say that much about her now. But then again, WWE doesn't exactly put on Minami Toyota-caliber matches. Afterward, Khali comes out to his new Bollywood theme and his manager (whose name always escapes my mind) introduces Mae Young (WTF) after the winning team of Divas refuses to kiss him. After that "altercation", Khali looked legitimately degraded. I wouldn't blame him. Mae gets a bigger pop than CM Punk. What the fuck...?
John Cena (C) vs. Chris Jericho - World Heavyweight Championship Match
There were tons of kids at the arena. There were tons of casual wrestling fans at the arena. That's why Cena got, according to Vince, "the third biggest pop I've ever heard next to Hogan and Austin". Whatever mention of Y2J I or any other audience member made was immediately shot down. I started to chant "Y2J, Y2J", and the kids behind me chanted "No, No, No...No, No, No". Most hilarious moment of the night for me. When viewing the match later on in the night, it seemed there were "You Can't Wrestle" chants for Cena, which I didn't hear at the arena, along with a more mixed response than the enormous pop Vince and I heard. I guess every smark in the arena was sitting on the floor. Oh, the match. Well, it was typical John Cena fare, but hundreds of times better than the utter shit that was the Cena/Jericho match at Survivor Series. Y2J sent Cena's head into the steel steps from the apron, which was one of the better spots of the entire evening, but the match ended with a very well executed (even for Cena) reversal from a Walls of Jericho into an STFU. Cena wins, kids go apeshit, blah blah blah. After the post-match replay, Cena celebrates with a few Bills players that weren't too embarrassed to show their faces after getting the shit kicked out of them by the Jets earlier on in the day. Isn't it ironic, folks? Cena celebrates with a bunch of overhyped, overpaid millionaires who are in desperate need of some good coaching. Funny how life goes. 3.25/5
Edge (C) vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy - WWE Championship Match
My dad and I had an interesting conversation about WWE's future plans for Jeff Hardy on Saturday night. I suggested they really exploit the whole "last second choke" aspect of Hardy's career and keep him an underdog by basically having everyone on the roster ridicule him for it. Then, Hardy wins the Rumble, goes to Wrestlemania, beats Edge and finally achieves his goal, with confetti, fireworks and 80,000 fans going completely nuts. My dad, on the other hand, suggested they give Hardy the belt at Armageddon, have him lose it back to Edge at the Rumble and then get another shot for it at Wrestlemania (providing, of course, that a Raw wrestler wins), where he'd win it for the second time. So, going into this match, I had my own theory in mind, thinking Edge would retain and have a substantial reign going into Wrestlemania. Boy, was I wrong. Initially, HHH got the biggest pop of the match, which was ironic, considering how many Hardy fans were in the arena. Hardy came crashing out of the gates, delivering a really high-energy performance from the starting bell. But the underdog mentality sunk in quickly, as a few spots forced him out of the match for extended periods of time, including a spot that sent him through the Smackdown announce table. I started chanting "Holy shit", which was then followed by a kid behind me chanting "Triple H, Triple H". Wow. Anyway, kudos to WWE for putting the belt on Hardy, a guy who's deserved it for a long time after having some excellent title matches over the past year. So, I guess my dad's plan may be closest to actually becoming reality. Oh, well. At least there's one thing we agreed on: Hardy needed a belt, and fast. But what does this mean for Edge? What's the point of putting him over in the first place after less than a month with the belt? Will he win it back? As we've seen already this year with Chris Jericho, that may very well be a possibility. But I'm confident that Hardy will, in some way, shape or form, leave Wrestlemania as champion. For now, let's enjoy WWE finally coming to their senses. After the match, Hardy climbed up on the Armageddon set to celebrate, then jumped down, celebrated in the ring for a while, and shook hands with Triple H. Afterward, Matt Hardy came down to the ring (sans ECW belt) and congratulated his brother, with Edge still "unconscious" at ringside. They posed for some pictures, high fived most of the fans at ringside (in a throwback to Rob Van Dam's ECW days) and left. The lower bowl essentially vanished during Hardy's long celebration, leaving the fans on the floor to essentially be the only ones there to witness Lilian Garcia's "goodbyes". The match was great, nothing too memorable, but also nothing too forgettable. A contender for MOTN next to the Rey/Punk match. 4/5
Overall, it was a good night of wrestling and a WWE supercard that wasn't a complete joke. Sure, it wasn't on par with the amazing night in Markham Vince and I had earlier in the fall with Ring of Honor, but it at least wasn't the atrocity/ripoff that was the Great American Bash 2005. Overall, I'd give the event a 3.75/5. There were good and bad parts, but overall, it was solid. I hope to get floor seats next time WWE's in town, so the URWL promotion will seem more obvious.
So, was this event a disaster on the level of Buffalo's last pay per view, the 2005 Great American Bash? Or was it a blessing from the Wrestling Gods? Let's go match-by-match and see:
Dark Match: Miz and Morrison vs. Jesse and Festus
OK, Vince and I were scratching our heads after this one. How the hell are Jesse and Festus over? As soon as the opening chord of "Biscuits and Gravy" (a horrible, horrible theme) hit, the crowd erupted. Wha...?! We even heard "FES-TUS" chants during the match. Luckily, some guy in our section broke out with "ROH, ROH" chants for no good reason, balancing out the stupidity with even more stupidity. But at least it wasn't "FES-TUS, FES-TUS". Miz and Morrison, fresh off winning the Tag Team Titles at a house show from Punk and Kofi, were holding their Slammys in hand and rubbing it in the booing audience's face. All in all, it was pretty unspectacular, except for the fact that Festus tried to go to the top rope for a move, which ended up becoming a spectacular disaster. Some botches here and there, but then again, it wasn't televised, so I think they botched just to flip the middle finger to creative. But that's just my opinion. Miz and Morrison win. Average all around. 2.5/5
Matt Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov (Non-Title Match)
Before I begin, I'd like to point out how much Kuleshov and Kozlov are alike. Both are undefeated, both squashed their fair share of people, and both hate America. Well, at least Kozlov hates America. I chock that up to not enough character development on Kuleshov's end. But oh well. Other than that, they're polar opposites. Anyhoo, Kule...I mean KOZLOV's streak continues with a pretty advantageous victory over the world's tallest midg...I mean the ECW Champion, Matt Hardy. By no means was it a squash, but Hardy never really built up that much steam, despite almost landing the Twist of Fate. What I don't get, though, is why Kozlov's punches and basic suplexes hurt so much. Oh, well, probably because of the stiffness of it all. Kudos to WWE for showing us Vladimir's anger through close-ups of his face just scowling into space. 2/5
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (Intercontinental Championship #1 Contender Tournament Finals)
Match of the night, quality-wise. The casual fans, as a whole were on Rey's side, while the marks in the crowd cheered Punk on. Basically, it was another case of "kids vs. pimply-faced adults". I kid, I kid, since there wasn't any acne on my face on this fortunate evening. Awesome creativity on both ends, though, it was exactly the kind of result I thought would happen between these two. Rey showed that he has a good technical side by reversing a lot of Punk's big moves, while Punk showed that he was not only able to keep pace with Rey Jr. but match Rey's creativity in the ring. Tons of near-falls, kick-outs, reverals...it was exciting. However, at the end of the match, Punk apparently broke Rey's nose with an apparently botched GTS that actually made contact...not sure whose fault it was, though. Punk had some blood on his face (not sure how that happened) and Rey was legimately favoring his face. Instantly after the match ended, Punk checked on Rey and helped him up, which could either be a sign of concern or a work due to two faces being in the match. I couldn't tell. Rey looked like he was in some amount of pain, though. Punk celebrated while Regal looked on, golf-clapping. Good to see Punk's not going to waste, although Rey should be used more effectively on Raw...anyhoo, like I said, MOTN quality-wise. 4/5
Finlay vs. Mark Henry - Belfast Brawl
OK, if Punk/Rey was the MOTN quality-wise, this had to be the antithesis. Despite his age, I think Finlay's an OK wrestler. But it would be wise of WWE to get rid of Mark Henry as quick as possible after the 10-year contract he signed 10 years ago is up. Tony Atlas is a great manager, though, a rare breed in the new WWE. I'd rather watch him, in his old age, than Henry. But like him or not, he's somehow getting heat. And I swore I heard crickets every time he came out. I guess not. Oh, well. The HSBC Arena, ring crew or whoever, had a real problem choosing weaponry, it was laughable. Only singapore canes and trash cans were used. At one point in the match, Finlay brought out the shillelagh, but Henry caught him in mid-swing and threw it away. Then, in order to demonstrate how strong he truly is, Henry broke the shillelagh in half over his thigh!!! What's even more hilarious is, a few minutes later, Henry did the exact same thing with a sinagpore cane. Hornswoggle eventually intervened, which signaled the beginning of the end. He popped out from underneath the apron momentarily, tried to enter the ring, but got knocked off by Henry. He then disappeared under the apron, provoking Tony Atlas to search for him on one side of the ring. He then appeared on another side of the ring, handed Finlay another shillelagh and, boom. Match over. Afterward, Finlay and Horny celebrate, and in something right out of the Wrestlecrap archives, Finlay gives the halved shillelagh to Hornswoggle. Henry's skills, combined with an ending that sounds good on paper but came off as anticlimactic made this match good enough for a bathroom break. 1/5
JBL and HBK Talk To The People
Not a match, just a full-fledged, match-long segment. HBK comes out and says he's fallen on hard times and basically sold out to JBL, while admitting JBL's a bully and a jerk. Plenty of opportunities for JBL to exert cheap heat by insulting Buffalo, but he never opens his mouth. In a weird move, JBL leaves the ring first, leaving HBK to slowly saunter down the ramp to boos from the audience, who chanted "You Sold Out" through the segment...or was it "You Screwed Bret"? I have no idea.
Randy Orton vs. Batista
I like to think Buffalo is the first place Batista got cheered, and where the "Ba-Ti-Sta" chant started. It was back in the Evolution days, on a Raw where, basically, HHH, Batista and Flair faked breaking up and basically laughed at the audience afterward, calling us idiots for falling for such a thing. But, in a way, Batista owes Buffalo, and Buffalo certainly welcomed him with open arms, delivering the second-biggest pop of the night. Anyway, the match was all right by me, despite how Randy and Batista always fail to blow me away talent-wise. One of the best spots of the entire night came from this match: Batista set up Randy for a Batista Bomb, but Randy wriggled out and hit an inverted RKO/neckbreaker hybrid (not quite sure what it looked like but it was one of those). Both Randy and Dave have great in-ring chemistry, and because of that, they should meet more often in the ring. Lots of reversals and big spots, I was actually really impressed. In the end, Batista wins, essentially saying that this angle won't last long...but who knows. 3.5/5
4-on-4 Divas "Santa's Little Helper" Match
I don't usually like to review WWE Divas matches unless they strike me as impressive (or essentially mirror the Stratus/Victoria hardcore match at Survivor Series 2002). This one didn't stand out at all, so I won't elaborate or give a rating. Michelle McCool's skills, though, seem to be improving. And although I was a Natalie Niedhart mark back when she was in the independent circuit, I really can't say that much about her now. But then again, WWE doesn't exactly put on Minami Toyota-caliber matches. Afterward, Khali comes out to his new Bollywood theme and his manager (whose name always escapes my mind) introduces Mae Young (WTF) after the winning team of Divas refuses to kiss him. After that "altercation", Khali looked legitimately degraded. I wouldn't blame him. Mae gets a bigger pop than CM Punk. What the fuck...?
John Cena (C) vs. Chris Jericho - World Heavyweight Championship Match
There were tons of kids at the arena. There were tons of casual wrestling fans at the arena. That's why Cena got, according to Vince, "the third biggest pop I've ever heard next to Hogan and Austin". Whatever mention of Y2J I or any other audience member made was immediately shot down. I started to chant "Y2J, Y2J", and the kids behind me chanted "No, No, No...No, No, No". Most hilarious moment of the night for me. When viewing the match later on in the night, it seemed there were "You Can't Wrestle" chants for Cena, which I didn't hear at the arena, along with a more mixed response than the enormous pop Vince and I heard. I guess every smark in the arena was sitting on the floor. Oh, the match. Well, it was typical John Cena fare, but hundreds of times better than the utter shit that was the Cena/Jericho match at Survivor Series. Y2J sent Cena's head into the steel steps from the apron, which was one of the better spots of the entire evening, but the match ended with a very well executed (even for Cena) reversal from a Walls of Jericho into an STFU. Cena wins, kids go apeshit, blah blah blah. After the post-match replay, Cena celebrates with a few Bills players that weren't too embarrassed to show their faces after getting the shit kicked out of them by the Jets earlier on in the day. Isn't it ironic, folks? Cena celebrates with a bunch of overhyped, overpaid millionaires who are in desperate need of some good coaching. Funny how life goes. 3.25/5
Edge (C) vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy - WWE Championship Match
My dad and I had an interesting conversation about WWE's future plans for Jeff Hardy on Saturday night. I suggested they really exploit the whole "last second choke" aspect of Hardy's career and keep him an underdog by basically having everyone on the roster ridicule him for it. Then, Hardy wins the Rumble, goes to Wrestlemania, beats Edge and finally achieves his goal, with confetti, fireworks and 80,000 fans going completely nuts. My dad, on the other hand, suggested they give Hardy the belt at Armageddon, have him lose it back to Edge at the Rumble and then get another shot for it at Wrestlemania (providing, of course, that a Raw wrestler wins), where he'd win it for the second time. So, going into this match, I had my own theory in mind, thinking Edge would retain and have a substantial reign going into Wrestlemania. Boy, was I wrong. Initially, HHH got the biggest pop of the match, which was ironic, considering how many Hardy fans were in the arena. Hardy came crashing out of the gates, delivering a really high-energy performance from the starting bell. But the underdog mentality sunk in quickly, as a few spots forced him out of the match for extended periods of time, including a spot that sent him through the Smackdown announce table. I started chanting "Holy shit", which was then followed by a kid behind me chanting "Triple H, Triple H". Wow. Anyway, kudos to WWE for putting the belt on Hardy, a guy who's deserved it for a long time after having some excellent title matches over the past year. So, I guess my dad's plan may be closest to actually becoming reality. Oh, well. At least there's one thing we agreed on: Hardy needed a belt, and fast. But what does this mean for Edge? What's the point of putting him over in the first place after less than a month with the belt? Will he win it back? As we've seen already this year with Chris Jericho, that may very well be a possibility. But I'm confident that Hardy will, in some way, shape or form, leave Wrestlemania as champion. For now, let's enjoy WWE finally coming to their senses. After the match, Hardy climbed up on the Armageddon set to celebrate, then jumped down, celebrated in the ring for a while, and shook hands with Triple H. Afterward, Matt Hardy came down to the ring (sans ECW belt) and congratulated his brother, with Edge still "unconscious" at ringside. They posed for some pictures, high fived most of the fans at ringside (in a throwback to Rob Van Dam's ECW days) and left. The lower bowl essentially vanished during Hardy's long celebration, leaving the fans on the floor to essentially be the only ones there to witness Lilian Garcia's "goodbyes". The match was great, nothing too memorable, but also nothing too forgettable. A contender for MOTN next to the Rey/Punk match. 4/5
Overall, it was a good night of wrestling and a WWE supercard that wasn't a complete joke. Sure, it wasn't on par with the amazing night in Markham Vince and I had earlier in the fall with Ring of Honor, but it at least wasn't the atrocity/ripoff that was the Great American Bash 2005. Overall, I'd give the event a 3.75/5. There were good and bad parts, but overall, it was solid. I hope to get floor seats next time WWE's in town, so the URWL promotion will seem more obvious.
