2006: Reviewing the Year of Wrestling: Part 1.

There are plenty of other articles looking over the past year in wrestling. I’ll be writing a couple of articles about the past year. I’ll look at the year in terms of WWE, TNA, their main event scenes, their undercard, tag team situation and miscellaneous. This will be a multi-part posting considering how long this post could be.

WWE Main Event Scene:

Raw’s WWE Championship scene brought in new main eventers this year. Only three men held the WWE Championship this year: John Cena, Edge, and Rob Van Dam.

Edge has now solidified himself as a believable main event-caliber wrestler. He had some fantastic matches with Cena, but the one match that stands out to me is Edge’s title defense against Ric Flair in a ladder match on Raw. The match was excellent with dangerous spots and showed how badly Edge wanted to keep his WWE Championship. Actually, every WWE Championship match Edge performed in showed how badly Edge wanted to be champion. From good promos to excellent matches, Edge should remain a main eventer (assuming Triple H doesn’t crush him in singles competition).

Rob Van Dam looked to be the new/old face of WWECW. WWE took a chance by having the WWE Championship given to the high flyer at an ECW PPV. WWE’s biggest championship belt rested on the shoulder of RVD. RVD then blew his spot by getting caught on drugs. The ECW and WWE championships were taken from RVD quickly and it looks as though Van Dam will never be a champion again. I expect RVD to go to TNA as soon as his contract is over.

John Cena is the champ and has been quite established as the top face of WWE. I think his ring skills have improved and he does what he can with scripted promos. Raw is stacked with other main event level talent such as HBK, Triple H, Randy Orton, Ric Flair (when necessary), Umaga and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Okay, I’m kidding about Duggan – just seeing if you were paying attention.

SmackDown!’s World Heavyweight Championship scene was chaotic. Batista vacated his title, Raw’s Kurt Angle filled in as champion (after HBK refused to go over to SmackDown! according to articles online), Rey Mysterio was terribly booked as champion only to lose to the revitalized King Booker. King Booker kept the title with excellent promos, created a stable of wrestlers, but lost the championship to Batista in November. The best thing for the division this year was King Booker. His size and ability allowed him to feud with wrestlers of all sizes and his personality made the fans root for the babyface. Hopefully, he’s solidified himself as a true main eventer after numerous false starts (such as the WrestleMania XIX debacle against Triple H).

SmackDown! needs to position some more main eventers for its championship scene. Finlay’s feud with Batista, involvement in King Booker’s court and his excellent ring work make him a candidate for rising to the main event. Chris Benoit is a main eventer and does not need the U.S. title. Mr. Kennedy has positioned himself at the upper mid-card/lower main event after his excellent feud with Undertaker. If need be, Kane can become a champion with the right push. Mysterio and Undertaker can float around in whatever scene they would like although Taker has more control over his own destiny.

Next Time: I’ll cover either TNA’s main event scene or WWE’s undercard.

WWE No Mercy 2006

Matt Hardy vs. Gregory Helms
I thought the tag team match-up would be a better choice for an opener. NC’s own Matt Hardy didn’t seem to start the show with the right pop for a PPV. The two guys fought it out like heavyweights. The top rope Shining Wizard was a very nice “Wow” moment. A Twist of Fate gets the win. The Cruiserweight championship stays with the longest reigning champion. At least these two were on a PPV. Lots of “Hardy-love” from the WWE; first Jeff wins the IC championship, then Matt gets a PPV win in his home state. Crazy.

King Booker and William Regal
Booker puts over his competition and plays his character to a T. Give this man an Emmy award.

The WWE Tag Team Championship:
Kendrick and London vs. Stevens and James with Michelle McCool.
Sounds like the Zack Attack wrote the music for the Stevens and James team. Kendrick and London fight like cruiserweights. How odd. Perhaps they could be competing in the cruiserweight division? [On an aside, I really think that the WWE should treat the divisions the same way the UFC does. Cruiserweights never fight Heavyweights. That’s how it should be.] James and Stevens remind me of the Midnight Express. They’re unlikable – the strut was a good way to get heel heat.

Someone please come up with another format for tag team matches, please. No more face in peril. No more! Hell of a finish, tho. I may have to start watching SmackDown! again.

Regal searches backstage for something.
I get it. Booker is the king. Finley is the knight. Regal is the jester.

Miz and his “Terry Taylor Starter Kit.” Excellent shot by JBL on the Miz. Is this guy a face? I got a great idea. Book him in a feud with the Boogeyman for 12 months. That way, everyone will know that it’s time for a bathroom break.

MVP’s intro is quite cool. He’s got his own entrance balloon thing and pyro columns. The suit is unique. Odd, but unique. Marty Garter – the superstar of superstars. Quite the challenge for MVP. I believe that was the overdrive for his finisher. It is one of the most unimpressive finishers in wrestling today.

WTF? They’re making matches backstage? What is this, an episode of SmackDown!? Yes. It is a $40 SmackDown! episode. Regal vs. Vito, tonight!

Ken Kennedy vs. Undertaker:
I really wish they would change the U.S. title belt to the classic one that Magnum T.A. used to wear. Much classier. The match was a slow, hard, hitting match up. A very nice brawling style by both men. Did anyone notice the Undertaker putting his foot on the rope instead of kicking out strongly against Kennedy at one point? The Deadman sold amazingly well for Mr. Kennedy. That stiff boot to the face by Kennedy to the Undertaker looked like it hurt like hell.

A piledriver?! Holy macaroni. I thought that move was outlawed. I assume that move was approved by management. Taker must have some kind of confidence in Kennedy to allow him to attempt such a move.

I am surprised at the duration of this match. Kennedy has gone toe to toe with the Undertaker for over 20 minutes. A DQ? On PPV? Yep. A DQ keeps Kennedy strong with a win. Kennedy will go on and on that he beat the Undertaker on a PPV.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero w/ Vickie Guerrero
Why won’t this feud go away? This match looks like it is going to be in the “Don’t Try This At Home” footage eventually. Two cruiserweights fighting like heavyweights once again. This was an amazingly brutal match with a very nice finish. It only took one ref to restrain Rey Mysterio? Chavo’s shoulders weren’t quite down, but that’s okay. What now for Chavo and Rey?

I hear John Cena is in a movie. When did this happen?

Regal vs. Vito.
The match to cool the crowd between the Rey/Chavo and the Main Event.

Regal vs. CHRIS BENOIT
Much better match! This is a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully Chris Benoit will follow up this performance with a run at the World Heavyweight Championship. It’s time for Chris Benoit to main event again. Some very nice chain wrestling by both Benoit and Regal. It’s always nice to watch a technical wrestling match on a PPV. That apron DDT spot is always sick.

This is an excellent PPV match. These guys were pulling out moves that I haven’t seen in years. A bloody, stiff, and excellent match-up. It’s one of the stiffest match I’ve seen in a while.

The Court Convenes:
Finley is becoming a face by accident. Court’s adjourned.

Dave and Bobby Bond:
These kids are like the Rock and Steve Austin when it comes to promos in that opposite kind of way. What’s with Dave’s Chuck Palumbo-like beard?

Fatal Four Way for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Batista’s got a new ring entrance thing: the helicopter spin. King Booker does not look like a happy man. Finley is coming out looking like a star in this feud. He’s just beating up everyone. The four-way match protects the young Lashley. He’s starting to grow as a wrestler and his matches with Finley have been helpful for his maturing.

For a second, it appeared as if Finley was about to win the World Championship. Batista with the Jackhammer – not bad. If Goldberg isn’t using it, why not Batista? Batista then used the spear on Lashley. Maybe he was watching some Goldberg matches on WWE 24/7 for inspiration.

Maybe Lashley should unveil an F5. How did Batista get busted open? Impressive belly to belly throw by Lashley on Batista. I really thought the Bookend was the end of the match. I was wrong. Seeing Booker and Lashley go back and forth is giving us a sneak peek as to the original PPV main event. Batista apparently buys spinebusters in bulk. Lashley’s spear on Batista was massive. I’m glad that King Booker won in a way that kept everyone strong. He looks like a weak champion since Batista did the dirty work. Lashley knocked out Batista and Finley had an all-around good match. Decent main event. OK PPV.

SummerSlam 2006 Thoughts

Now I had said I didn’t want to pay for SummerSlam 2006 because the card didn’t seem too great. But then I got caught up in the SummerSlam hype. I actually attended the first SummerSlam with the MegaPowers vs. the Megabucks – so I’m a SummerSlam fan.

They got me to pay up the 40 bucks and I watched the show. Here’s my opinion on it: It was a decent show that was quite fun and set up storylines for a while. Did anyone else notice that every match (except the DX one) had the loser enter the ring first?

The night opened up with Rey vs. Chavo because no other match could open. I enjoyed the match and the two have very good chemistry. Chavo selling of Rey’s offense is believable and the two did not disappoint. I think their No Way Out match was better and no Vicki Guerrero interference would be nice, but all in all a good opener with some nice highspots.

Hogan/Orton was what I expected except for the finish of Hogan going over. It’s not like he needs to protect his spot so I don’t understand why he didn’t job to Orton. Hogan played the crowd excellently and he’s the smartest man in wrestling – I wonder how he would do as a booker (assuming he was no longer an on-air talent).

Show vs. Sabu was alright. I was surprised there was no interference by Paul Heyman or RVD or someone. The two didn’t work together that well and the match was sloppy in parts.

The I Quit match was more hardcore than the ECW match. Some crazy bumps had me cringing for both wrestlers. The match ended abruptly with Mick quitting to save Melina and quite possibly means that the feud will continue.

DX vs. The McMahons (+10): I enjoyed seeing Ken Kennedy getting such offense on DX. It would be nice to see a Kennedy vs. HBK feud since the two can be loudmouths very well. Since Kennedy is such a star on SmackDown! it’s only a matter of time before he is sent to Raw. Anyway, the match portion was weak, but I enjoyed seeing the McMahons using tag-team finishers from the past. I was disappointed they did not use the Midnight Express’ finisher. It also set up a Kane-Umaga feud to give both men direction.

King Bookah vs. Batista: Batista needs some conditioning work since he nearly botched the Batista Bomb. Bookah retains and the feud will continue. That’s good for SmackDown!

Edge vs. John Cena: Cena loses in front of his home crowd so Edge will do the job at Unforgiven in Toronto. I’m glad Edge successfully defended the WWE championship at such a major PPV. It was a good match and I still think that Edge is a great champion. He seems like he could lose any match to any opponent (take a look at his ladder match against Ric Flair or his recent match against Carlito). He draws good heel heat and fans want to see him get his butt kicked in the ring.

BTW: I also liked the interaction between the champions. It makes the two shows really seem like two different promotions.

Last Week’s WWE Supershow

Last week, I attended the WWE Supershow in East Rutherford, New Jersey. For those of you who don’t know, a WWE Supershow is where the WWE records both SmackDown! and Raw at the same event. SmackDown! is taped first and then is followed by the live episode of Monday Night Raw. Telltale signs of the Supershow include black ring ropes and the Raw polygon-shaped Titantron.

The show started with a dark match featuring the return of Bob “Hardcore” Holly. The fans were supportive of Holly’s return to the ring.

SmackDown! followed the dark match and the fans were pretty much sitting on their hands until Ken Kennedy and Batista had their match. The crowd did not care for SmackDown! as evidenced by a sign I saw, “I only came here for Raw.” The Chavo/Rey segment did not get as much heat as it should have. Two people in front of me tried to start an “Eddie’s Dead” chant. I found that quite distasteful and disrespectful of the late, great Eddie Guerrero.

King Booker and Undertaker had a quality match that the fans appreciated. However, the crowd was hot for Raw even though the episode of Raw was really no better than SmackDown!

The WWE Red and Blue brands shouldn’t be competing, all the WWE should see is green.

It just shows the sad state of the WWE. WWE constantly puts over Raw as the “flagship of the WWE” and puts down SmackDown! At least JBL tries to put over SmackDown! as the “A Show.” The fans have bought into the WWE thinking that SmackDown! is the B show and not worth watching. For a short time, SmackDown! was the real A show with Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Los Guerreros, John Cena, Randy Orton, Big Show and Brock Lesnar.

Every time SmackDown! has some momentum, the WWE undercuts it. Take a look at that list – who is left? Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero are left. Triple H took Edge and brought back Orton to Raw. Show and Angle are anchoring the WWECW with star power.

SmackDown! is usually saved by a Raw wrestler coming over to the show. When Batista vacated the World Heavyweight Championship, Raw’s Kurt Angle managed to win the SmackDown! championship. Shortly thereafter, HBK got a pinfall victory over Angle on Monday Night Raw (while Angle was the SmackDown! Champion) to further show the fans that Raw is superior to SmackDown!

I cannot understand why the WWE would bother to do this considering any WWE brand brings the WWE money. For some reason, WWE is choosing to bury one show at their own expense. WWE could be making money on all of their brands, but chooses to do so with Raw and the new ECW. SmackDown! has quickly become the third brand.

So if anyone from the WWE is reading this, build up SmackDown and ECW to be equal to Raw and just make some serious money. When the brands are built up, fights between SmackDown! and Raw during the big-money PPVs would generate buyrates. The perfect example is the interpromotional classic, Raw’s HBK vs. SmackDown!’s Kurt Angle. Two superstars whose interactions were limited by being on separated brands allow for a slow building feud that can take months and their match will make money on a joint-brand PPV.

The WWE Red and Blue brands shouldn’t be competing, all the WWE should see is green.