Wrestleblog
Thursday, July 27, 2006
That did not suck
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This week's episode of ECW most definitely did not suck. And it probably was good enough to give one hope for future episodes. But the last time that I got optimistic about ECW, WWE made me pay for it by delivering a big stinking pile of poop the next week. So I am going to temper my expectations for a turn-around, and just say that I enjoyed this week's episode.
Though I was a little unsure of what to expect after the show once again opened up with Kelly and Mike Knox. While Kelly wasn't dancing, the "highlight" package was choke full of Kelly dancing. And really, what's the difference? The package ended with three replays of that wicked cane shot to the head that Kelly took last week. That's exactly the kind of thing that got ECW kicked off of Fox Sports back in 1994, actually. But SciFi is probably a little more lenient about such things, since they frequently air shows that have women getting hacked to itty bitty pieces by psycho mass murderers/aliens/demons. But I digress.
Knox says he isn't going to allow anyone to knock around his girlfriend (ugh), so he challenges Sandman. Again. This time around, Sandman starts a massive comeback after taken mucho abuso from Knox. Sandman grabs a cane, heads into the ring for some ass whipping (caning?), but Kelly jumps between Sandman and Knox. She's gonna defend the abuser? Actually, that's the closest thing to realism in this whole stupid-ass angle. Sandman yells at Kelly to get out of the way, but he actually should've been watching for interference, because for some reason Test comes flying into the ring and destroys Sandman. A two-man beatdown commences, culminating in a flying, twisting neckbreaker (or whatever the hell he is gonna call it) by Test. Sandman is out!
Why am I recapping this match? Dunno, it's late and I got distracted.
Part of the reason that this episode clicked with me is that the backstage bits actually seemed to have some relevance this week. Tommy Dreamer attacking both Test and Mike Knox is obviously part of the ongoing Dreamer -vs- Heyman feud. Which should lead to "classic ECW -vs- WWE-ECW" feud. I like where this is going. On that same subject, Heyman's personal security force actually did something this week, and we are obviously supposed to start wondering who the wrestlers are underneath that gear.
The other interesting backstage skits were setting up Big Show -vs- Sabu. And it is about friggin' time. I am already sick and tired of Show defending the ECW title against random WWE wrestlers. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea? Whoever it was should be fired. Immediately. As good as the Show/Flair title match was, it shouldn't have happened. Show should be having those types of matches against ECW wrestlers! Why not have Show -vs- Balls? Show -vs- Stevie Richards? Show -vs- The FBI? Sure, there's no doubt who is going to win. But there's no doubt that Show was gonna beat Kane or Flair, either. Why showcase WWE talent? Give that spot to ECW wrestlers, and let them get some respect for wrestling a title match. But yet again, I digress.
Kudos to Little Guido for taking a hellacious ram into the wall in the lockerroom by Heyman's security team. And then for doing his best to make the Vampire Fertig look good in Fertig's debut. I had major worries that Fertig was gonna suck badly. But he actually had a pretty good debut match, and his gimmick didn't seem too horribly retarded once in the ring. The only thing I didn't like is Taz and Joey not having a name for Fertig. Seriously, dudes, if a wrestler doesn't even have a name yet, he shouldn't be in the ring. It makes the commentators sound stupid to spend 5 minutes saying, "And this guy, whoever he is, hits another suplex."
The Justin Credible -vs- Balls Mahoney was much better than it had any right to be. Balls looks like a new man in the ring; he obviously is loving this run with the new ECW. And Justin Credible is being a true professional by doing the job to get just about everyone else on the roster over. He made Balls look like gold out there. If both these guys keep performing at this level, good things are gonna come from it.
And then there was the main event, or, as I like to refer to it, Big Show Beats Some WWE Dude. And again, the main question that comes to mind is: why? Is this something that ECW is demanding? Or does Vince see ECW as just another way to promote his WWE guys? (For that to be true, though, Vince would have to not care that his WWE guy are being beaten by the ECW Champion.) Dunno, but I hope that gets fixed soon. Show/Kane put on as good a match as they could. But that isn't saying much. Fortunately, we got a clean pin in this one. And then we had Sabu attacking the Big Show after the match. Very good end to the match, but the rest? Eh.
Managing expectations
Okay, so I said that I am not going to get excited for next week's show, because every time I do, the next show sucks ass. And I definitely shoulda learned not to think that ECW has hit a turning point. But next week's show should be a monster. The stars are aligning in such a way for big things to happen. At next week's show:
But don't get your hopes up. 'cuz it could still get shitty very quickly.
¶ 6:48 AM 0 comments
This week's episode of ECW most definitely did not suck. And it probably was good enough to give one hope for future episodes. But the last time that I got optimistic about ECW, WWE made me pay for it by delivering a big stinking pile of poop the next week. So I am going to temper my expectations for a turn-around, and just say that I enjoyed this week's episode.
Though I was a little unsure of what to expect after the show once again opened up with Kelly and Mike Knox. While Kelly wasn't dancing, the "highlight" package was choke full of Kelly dancing. And really, what's the difference? The package ended with three replays of that wicked cane shot to the head that Kelly took last week. That's exactly the kind of thing that got ECW kicked off of Fox Sports back in 1994, actually. But SciFi is probably a little more lenient about such things, since they frequently air shows that have women getting hacked to itty bitty pieces by psycho mass murderers/aliens/demons. But I digress.
Knox says he isn't going to allow anyone to knock around his girlfriend (ugh), so he challenges Sandman. Again. This time around, Sandman starts a massive comeback after taken mucho abuso from Knox. Sandman grabs a cane, heads into the ring for some ass whipping (caning?), but Kelly jumps between Sandman and Knox. She's gonna defend the abuser? Actually, that's the closest thing to realism in this whole stupid-ass angle. Sandman yells at Kelly to get out of the way, but he actually should've been watching for interference, because for some reason Test comes flying into the ring and destroys Sandman. A two-man beatdown commences, culminating in a flying, twisting neckbreaker (or whatever the hell he is gonna call it) by Test. Sandman is out!
Why am I recapping this match? Dunno, it's late and I got distracted.
Part of the reason that this episode clicked with me is that the backstage bits actually seemed to have some relevance this week. Tommy Dreamer attacking both Test and Mike Knox is obviously part of the ongoing Dreamer -vs- Heyman feud. Which should lead to "classic ECW -vs- WWE-ECW" feud. I like where this is going. On that same subject, Heyman's personal security force actually did something this week, and we are obviously supposed to start wondering who the wrestlers are underneath that gear.
The other interesting backstage skits were setting up Big Show -vs- Sabu. And it is about friggin' time. I am already sick and tired of Show defending the ECW title against random WWE wrestlers. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea? Whoever it was should be fired. Immediately. As good as the Show/Flair title match was, it shouldn't have happened. Show should be having those types of matches against ECW wrestlers! Why not have Show -vs- Balls? Show -vs- Stevie Richards? Show -vs- The FBI? Sure, there's no doubt who is going to win. But there's no doubt that Show was gonna beat Kane or Flair, either. Why showcase WWE talent? Give that spot to ECW wrestlers, and let them get some respect for wrestling a title match. But yet again, I digress.
Kudos to Little Guido for taking a hellacious ram into the wall in the lockerroom by Heyman's security team. And then for doing his best to make the Vampire Fertig look good in Fertig's debut. I had major worries that Fertig was gonna suck badly. But he actually had a pretty good debut match, and his gimmick didn't seem too horribly retarded once in the ring. The only thing I didn't like is Taz and Joey not having a name for Fertig. Seriously, dudes, if a wrestler doesn't even have a name yet, he shouldn't be in the ring. It makes the commentators sound stupid to spend 5 minutes saying, "And this guy, whoever he is, hits another suplex."
The Justin Credible -vs- Balls Mahoney was much better than it had any right to be. Balls looks like a new man in the ring; he obviously is loving this run with the new ECW. And Justin Credible is being a true professional by doing the job to get just about everyone else on the roster over. He made Balls look like gold out there. If both these guys keep performing at this level, good things are gonna come from it.
And then there was the main event, or, as I like to refer to it, Big Show Beats Some WWE Dude. And again, the main question that comes to mind is: why? Is this something that ECW is demanding? Or does Vince see ECW as just another way to promote his WWE guys? (For that to be true, though, Vince would have to not care that his WWE guy are being beaten by the ECW Champion.) Dunno, but I hope that gets fixed soon. Show/Kane put on as good a match as they could. But that isn't saying much. Fortunately, we got a clean pin in this one. And then we had Sabu attacking the Big Show after the match. Very good end to the match, but the rest? Eh.
Managing expectations
Okay, so I said that I am not going to get excited for next week's show, because every time I do, the next show sucks ass. And I definitely shoulda learned not to think that ECW has hit a turning point. But next week's show should be a monster. The stars are aligning in such a way for big things to happen. At next week's show:
- Kurt Angle returns
- C.M. Punk debuts
- Sabu and Big Show will forward their hostilities
- Tommy Dreamer should explain why he attacked Knox and Test
- Sandman will be out for revenge
But don't get your hopes up. 'cuz it could still get shitty very quickly.
¶ 6:48 AM 0 comments
Thursday, July 20, 2006
ECW: It's shitty again!
I don't think that I meant this blog to devolve into an ECW review column. But then again, it didn't occur to me that ECW would return when I started Wrestleblog back up. And Lord knows that I didn't expect WWE to turn ECW into a crappy extension of Raw and Smackdown. Monty Python was right: no one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition. But I digress.
Coming into the July 18th show, I had a reason to be optimistic. Last week's episode, capped by the amazing Big Show -vs- Ric Flair title match, gave me hope that the new ECW had turned the corner, and was gonna concentrate on not sucking. Instead, they gave us a whole heaping helping of sucking this time around. It started off by having Kelly start off the show with her psedo-striptease. Mike Knox's interference took far too long, as it almost always does.
Things went from bad to worse, though, as Knox challenged Sandman to a match. The match itself was ugly, Knox kept control for far too long, and the attempted highlight of the match, Kelly getting decapitated from a Sandman cane shot, was telegraphed when Knox grabbed Kelly far, far too early. Top that off with Sandman losing to Knox, and you have a match that'll make me grumpy any day.
Tommy Dreamer did give a great little speech, imploring Paul Heyman to add some kind of logic to this angle. Heyman also played his role perfectly, down to the Mafia Kiss of Death. I wish we could've had a better executioner than Test, but I'm sure that Scaia over at OnlineOnslaught was pleased that things are going much the way he hoped. Oh, Sabu also had a nice little match against Stevie Richards. The springboard DDT is an awesome move, and may get Sabu even more over than he already is.
The main event made me even grumpier than I already was. Who in the fuck decided it would be good to have The "Great" Khali on ECW? Horrible, horrible idea. I didn't bother investing much interest in the Show/'Taker match, 'cuz it seemed like a foregone conclusion that this wasn't going to end well. And Khali's attack on the Undertaker proved me right. Unfortunately. I really wanted to be wrong, too!
Add it all up, and you've got one suck-tastic episode of ECW. And the optimism that I showed last week is completely gone. I am starting to wonder if I'll be able to get through ECW's 13-week run on SciFi. If next week's episode is as bad as this week's, I may just call it over and go do something entertaining on Tuesday nights.
¶ 9:07 PM 0 comments
Coming into the July 18th show, I had a reason to be optimistic. Last week's episode, capped by the amazing Big Show -vs- Ric Flair title match, gave me hope that the new ECW had turned the corner, and was gonna concentrate on not sucking. Instead, they gave us a whole heaping helping of sucking this time around. It started off by having Kelly start off the show with her psedo-striptease. Mike Knox's interference took far too long, as it almost always does.
Things went from bad to worse, though, as Knox challenged Sandman to a match. The match itself was ugly, Knox kept control for far too long, and the attempted highlight of the match, Kelly getting decapitated from a Sandman cane shot, was telegraphed when Knox grabbed Kelly far, far too early. Top that off with Sandman losing to Knox, and you have a match that'll make me grumpy any day.
Tommy Dreamer did give a great little speech, imploring Paul Heyman to add some kind of logic to this angle. Heyman also played his role perfectly, down to the Mafia Kiss of Death. I wish we could've had a better executioner than Test, but I'm sure that Scaia over at OnlineOnslaught was pleased that things are going much the way he hoped. Oh, Sabu also had a nice little match against Stevie Richards. The springboard DDT is an awesome move, and may get Sabu even more over than he already is.
The main event made me even grumpier than I already was. Who in the fuck decided it would be good to have The "Great" Khali on ECW? Horrible, horrible idea. I didn't bother investing much interest in the Show/'Taker match, 'cuz it seemed like a foregone conclusion that this wasn't going to end well. And Khali's attack on the Undertaker proved me right. Unfortunately. I really wanted to be wrong, too!
Add it all up, and you've got one suck-tastic episode of ECW. And the optimism that I showed last week is completely gone. I am starting to wonder if I'll be able to get through ECW's 13-week run on SciFi. If next week's episode is as bad as this week's, I may just call it over and go do something entertaining on Tuesday nights.
¶ 9:07 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
The new ECW - turning the corner?
Who would've thought that a rematch of a 10-year-old WCW championship bout would be the new ECW's turning point? That may be just what happened last night, as The Big Show and Ric Flair delivered a kick-ass, extreme, bloody, violent match for the ECW World Title. Both men really picked up their game for the match, which was obviously meant as a way to further get Show over as an Extreme wrestler. And it actually worked. Show looked like a badass, standing in the middle of the ring, holding up the ECW belt, half of his face covered in a crimson mask, thumbtacks stuck in various parts of his anatomy.
it was also a stroke of brilliance to have the thumbtack spot lead to Show getting pissed off and exploding in a rage of violence. That's exactly how Show should be booked: good while he's in a normal mood, but almost super-human when something really pisses him off. That was good stuff.
As for the rest of the show? Well, it's better than the last few weeks. It's definitely the best episode of ECW on SciFi. 'course, that's not saying much. Heyman's promo was pretty funny, though I'm not sure that's what he was going for. Dreamer and Test was too abbreviated to really mean much, though it was good to have Dreamer put up more of a fight than Al Snow did last week. I am completely over Kelly Kelley and her stupid "waste of 5 minutes" segments. My wife is sexier putting on her contacts than Kelly is doing her dances. Kelly's Expose needs to come to a grinding halt.
Oh, and Sandman finally did something noteworthy, as he caned Mike Knox right off the show. And hopefully out of ECW. I just wish that Little Guido could've gotten his win back before Sandman finished Knox off.
Seriously, though, Sandman is being wasted as the writers try and get his new music over with the fans. It's time for Sandman to stop playing with the supposed sports entertainment gimmicks and to Do Something. Anything. He needs a feud. He needs to wrestle in matches. He needs a chance to get over with the non-ECW faithful. Because right now, he's just biding time. And that's just wrong.
There were also teasers for a couple new ECW arrivals. Fertig the Vampire, who I'm sure is here to placate the network, and Shannon Moore. Interestingly enough, as the camera panned up onto Moore, I thought for certain that he was Luna Vachon! I get the feeling that doesn't bode well for Moore.
Anyway, this was a much better show than last week. And the main event gives me hope that, whoever is writing ECW has finally figured out a little bit about what makes ECW different from Raw or Smackdown. Hopefully, they'll remember that come next Tuesday.
¶ 7:06 PM 0 comments
it was also a stroke of brilliance to have the thumbtack spot lead to Show getting pissed off and exploding in a rage of violence. That's exactly how Show should be booked: good while he's in a normal mood, but almost super-human when something really pisses him off. That was good stuff.
As for the rest of the show? Well, it's better than the last few weeks. It's definitely the best episode of ECW on SciFi. 'course, that's not saying much. Heyman's promo was pretty funny, though I'm not sure that's what he was going for. Dreamer and Test was too abbreviated to really mean much, though it was good to have Dreamer put up more of a fight than Al Snow did last week. I am completely over Kelly Kelley and her stupid "waste of 5 minutes" segments. My wife is sexier putting on her contacts than Kelly is doing her dances. Kelly's Expose needs to come to a grinding halt.
Oh, and Sandman finally did something noteworthy, as he caned Mike Knox right off the show. And hopefully out of ECW. I just wish that Little Guido could've gotten his win back before Sandman finished Knox off.
Seriously, though, Sandman is being wasted as the writers try and get his new music over with the fans. It's time for Sandman to stop playing with the supposed sports entertainment gimmicks and to Do Something. Anything. He needs a feud. He needs to wrestle in matches. He needs a chance to get over with the non-ECW faithful. Because right now, he's just biding time. And that's just wrong.
There were also teasers for a couple new ECW arrivals. Fertig the Vampire, who I'm sure is here to placate the network, and Shannon Moore. Interestingly enough, as the camera panned up onto Moore, I thought for certain that he was Luna Vachon! I get the feeling that doesn't bode well for Moore.
Anyway, this was a much better show than last week. And the main event gives me hope that, whoever is writing ECW has finally figured out a little bit about what makes ECW different from Raw or Smackdown. Hopefully, they'll remember that come next Tuesday.
¶ 7:06 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
New ECW World Champion... Big Show?
Well, you gotta give it to Paul Heyman (or whoever is running the booking for ECW right now): putting the ECW World Title around the waist of the Big Show is a gutsy move. It's an interesting attempted resolution of the predicament that RVD caused by getting nailed for drug charges. But is it the right resolution?
Time will tell.
Show has been doing a good job of morphing into the 2006 version of 911. He can go out, effectively squash his opponent, and look like a monster while doing so. Can he carry the show for however long RVD's suspension will be?
Again, time will tell.
Tonight's episode of ECW was much better than what we've seen the last couple of weeks, by the way. A couple of quick semi-squashes (props to Little Guido for putting over Knox, especially since Guido will be around years after Knox has been let go), a much-less-cringe-worthy sports entertainment gimmick for Sandman to cane the bejezus out of, Test's debut (poor Al Snow), and the RVD/Big Show drama. This episode actually lifted my hopes a bit for the new ECW.
¶ 8:16 PM 0 comments
Time will tell.
Show has been doing a good job of morphing into the 2006 version of 911. He can go out, effectively squash his opponent, and look like a monster while doing so. Can he carry the show for however long RVD's suspension will be?
Again, time will tell.
Tonight's episode of ECW was much better than what we've seen the last couple of weeks, by the way. A couple of quick semi-squashes (props to Little Guido for putting over Knox, especially since Guido will be around years after Knox has been let go), a much-less-cringe-worthy sports entertainment gimmick for Sandman to cane the bejezus out of, Test's debut (poor Al Snow), and the RVD/Big Show drama. This episode actually lifted my hopes a bit for the new ECW.
¶ 8:16 PM 0 comments
