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The Official Wrestling Thread (now with more news and stuff)
Arcademan:
WWE RAW Results: 9-28-09
Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report).
1 -- Unified tag champions CHRIS JERICHO & BIG SHOW vs. MVP & MARK HENRY -- Unified tag title match
WINNERS: Big Show & Jericho at 18:18 to retain the Unified tag titles. Really sloppy first-half of the match before the commercial break. Very sluggish Henry-Show exchange during the second-half of the match before bringing in the faster-moving MVP and Jericho to set up a very nice finish after the long build-up to the finish. Jericho was off his game tonight until really selling those nearfalls by MVP. He's one of the best in the business at selling the all-important nearfall, like Kurt Angle in TNA. (**1/4)
2 -- Divas champion MICKIE JAMES vs. ROSA MENDES (w/Alicia Fox)
WINNER: Mickie at 3:40. Fine build for Mickie vs. Alicia at the PPV. Got the point across with a decent match for Mickie to get a needed win back after being squashed by Beth last week. (*)
3 -- JACK SWAGGER vs. EVAN BOURNE
WINNER: Swagger at 3:01. Good set-up match for Swagger to look strong going into the PPV. Bourne had enough offense to look credible, but the problem remains the big picture where the audience continues to be told the mid-card isn't important in the grand scheme of things. (*3/4)
4 -- CHRIS MASTERS & CHAVO GUERRERO vs. SANTINO MARELLA & HORNSWOGGLE
WINNERS: Masters & Chavo at 2:19. Apparently Chavo was only in it for the chase. He didn't really want to go after Hornswoggle; he just wanted to chase him down and be able to say he had him in his grasp. That's all I have to explain this. (* for Santino comedy.)
5 -- WWE champion JOHN CENA vs. RANDY ORTON & Unified tag champions CHRIS JERICHO & BIG SHOW -- gauntlet non-title match
5b -- WWE champion JOHN CENA vs. BIG SHOW (w/Chris Jericho)
WINNER: No official announcement. Well, the work from Jericho and Show was pretty pointless since SuperCena just shook it all off. Orton didn't have much credibility as a heel here. Jericho and Show did all the work, then he wasted it all away in the match storyline. Cena stood tall to close the show to give viewers a happy note. WWE took the "we'll make them feel good about life and want to pay money to see Orton get even more of a beating on Sunday" route to sell the PPV main event along with a little involvement from the Cell as a selling point. We'll see if it works. (**)
Arcademan:
ECW on SyFy Results: 9-29-09
Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.
1 -- SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. PAUL BURCHILL (w/Katie Lea)
Bell sounded and Burchill immediately charged Shelton with knees to the stomach. He landed a rolling belly-to-back side suplex for a two count and couldn't put Shelton away leading to a commercial.
Burchill stretched Benjamin's abs with a submission hold, then landed another rolling belly-to-back suplex for another two count. Burchill tried another suplex, but Shelton flipped onto his feet and landed a neckbreaker center ring. Both men slowly recovered on the mat as the announcers talked about the possibility of a draw if neither men could reach their feet. Not often "draw" is mentioned on WWE TV. Seems a little too 'rasslin for WWE's marketing. With both en on their feet, Burchill took Shelton to the top turnbuckle, but Shelton elbowed him to the mat. Shelton recovered on the top rope and slowly made his way to his feet only to miss with a flip dive attempt. Burchill then dropped a knee and made a cover, but Shelton kicked out. Burchill then went back on the attack working Shelton's shoulder that Sheamus rammed into the ringpost. Burchill then yelled and screamed bouncing off the ropes to build momentum, but Shelton caught him with the Paydirt finisher. Shelton with the pin and the win.
WINNER: Shelton Benjamin in 11:00. Classic babyface storytelling to show Shelton overcoming tremendous odds and showing fighting spirit, grit, and all that to pull out an improbable victory. Only problem is the audience has been given eight different looks at Shelton turning heel, face, heel, face, and back again that the audience didn't quite buy into it. Hopefully it's the start of a decent babyface push. As for Burchill, well, at least he didn't run away from Shelton when he was down and out unlike Randy Orton, who was booked to look like an idiot last night on Raw. (*1/2)
2 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN & GOLDUST & TOMMY DREAMER & YOSHI TATSU vs. WILLIAM REGAL & EZEKIEL JACKSON & KOZLOV & ZACK RYDER
Dreamer and Ryder started things off. Dreamer landed a series of arm drags to over Ryder before Goldust came in. Goldust is a consistent fan favorite now after that program with Sheamus. Yoshi then tagged in and worked over Kozlov's shoulder. Jackson then tagged in and pounded Yoshi, but missed with an elbow drop and corner clothesline. Goldust back in to work on Jackson, who came back with a loud clothesline. Jackson doing a lot of yelling and screaming now. William Regal then tagged in and yelled. Kozlov was even heard yelling from the ring apron. Ryder tagged in, then Christian tagged in to pick up their title program last week.
Christian ran over Ryder with elbows then hit a rolling elbow from the second rope. Heels tried to get involved, but Christian ran them off, ran down Ryder, and hit a running clothesline for a two count. Dreamer tagged in and hit a double-team move on Ryder to keep the action going. Dreamer went to the second rope for a move, but Regal ran down the apron and distracted him, allowing Ryder to smash him off the turnbuckle to the mat. Regal then tagged in and worked on Dreamer as they cut to break. Lots of fast-paced action with quick in and out tags. Crowd is sitting on their hands a bit waiting for the finish, though.
Back from break, Dreamer was still being worked on by the heels. Christian eventually took a tag and was quickly met by offense from the heels. Regal cut him off, though, then Ryder worked over Christian. [Q5 -- over-run] More heel work on Christian, who avoided a corner splash by Kozlov and hit a dropkick from the second rope. Christian then hot-tagged in Yoshi, who landed kick strikes on Ryder. Yoshi and Ryder were a little off on a roaring elbow, but Ryder removed any thoughts with a big kick strike to the chest followed by a spinning heel kick from the top rope for a two count.
On cue, the action broke down with bodies flying everywhere. Babyfaces cleaned house on the floor while Regal made a legal tag for Ryder. Regal tried to sneak up behind Yoshi, but Yoshi blasted him with a big kick strike to the head and made the pin on Regal for the win. Yoshi and Friends celebrated the big victory while the Ruthless Roundtable comically dragged Regal away from ringside to close the show.
WINNERS: Team Yoshi in 14:00. Lots of emphasis behind Yoshi right now. I like it. Match was just okay for an eight-man tag. Crowd didn't really get into it until the chaos happened at the end. Until WWE convinces the audience that a pin could happen at any time during a match, that's going to be the case. It would take years to re-write that crowd mentality city by city, though. And ECW closes without a title match or any match for Sunday's PPV. (**)
Arcademan:
WWE Superstars Results: 10-1-09
Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.
1 -- TYSON KIDD (w/D.H. Smith and Natalya) vs. SHAD GASPARD (w/JTG and Eve)
Tyson Kidd played a Brian Kendrick heel early on by backing away and demanding the ref create an even start to the match against the larger Shad. Ross: "an interesting array of individuals" ringside. Kidd tried to work Shad's leg early on in the match, but Shad sidestepped an attack and sent Kidd through the ropes to the outside. Shad then lost control on the floor and Kidd wrapped his leg around the ringpost to begin that leg attack he was looking for. Kidd even whipped out a Sharpshooter around the ringpost, which drew the attention of the interesting array ringside. They had a stand-off going to break.
Back from break, Kidd was working over the leg and knee after cutting down the Shadtree to the mat. "Ask him, ref!" Kidd demanded. "Ask him!!" he requested again. Kidd tried another leglock, but Shad flung him away through the ropes to the outside. Kidd re-entered and Shad clotheslined him on one good leg. JTG shouted encouragement to Shad as the fans chanted "USA." Shad made his full comeback encouraged by the patriotism and made a cover, but Kidd put his foot on the bottom rope for a break. Kidd then slingshot Shad throat-first across the top rope. He tried to follow with a springboard attack, but Shad blocked in mid-air with a throw-down STO for the pin and the win. Ross said Shad showed "a lot of character" fighting through the injury from Kidd.
WINNER: Shad in 11:00. Good, quality TV match to continue the regularly featured Smackdown tag feud. Announcers were able to get in plenty of plugs for the Smackdown 10-year show tomorrow night. (*3/4)
2 -- SHEAMUS vs. TYLER REKS
Sheamus sold frustration early on when he couldn't get in any offense on Reks. Sheamus took a breather on the outside, then re-entered and blocked a corner move with a big kick to the sternum. Pale Sheamus began working over Reks's well-tanned abdomen. Striker interjected: "Sheamus is a most-unusual-looking athlete." He then gave us a Dr. Mike Knox explanation of Sheamus's body work on Reks as he worked him over on the mat. He's not a doctor, but he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Sheamus continued to contort Reks's body, but missed with an elbow drop. Reks made his comeback and did a gyration leading to an elbow drop. I believe it's his Riding the Wave move. Crowd wasn't sure whether to react or not. Reks only scored a two count, though, and shortly walked into a big boot to the face from Sheamus for the pin and the win.
WINNER: Sheamus in 6:00. Okay singles match. Crowds just aren't connecting with Reks because WWE hasn't given them anything about the character to sink their teeth into. Reks has an okay look, but there has to be more WWE can market to the audience. (3/4*)
3 -- U.S. champion KOFI KINGSTON vs. THE MIZ -- non-title match
Slow start as they felt each other out before Miz took an early advantage, only to lose control with an errant top rope double axehandle attempt. Kofi then went back on the attack and Miz bailed to the outside to take a breather with Kofi "rolling" as Cole said.
Back from break, Miz was on the offensive taking cheapshots as the ref admonished him for unacceptable behavior. Miz then rolled Kofi around the ring landing successive elbow drops to the knee. Like the Orton Stomp, but with elbows. Miz continued to work the knee. "Miz, off the ropes!" the ref shouted. They have him mic'ed pretty strongly like ref Paul Turner on ROH TV. Miz continued to work Kofi over as the crowd tried to rally him up.
Kofi tried to make a comeback at 11:00, but he was hobbled and Miz slapped on a Boston Crab. Kofi escaped to the ropes for a rope break, then Miz was admonished for not breaking. Kofi suddenly hopped up and smashed Miz with the Trouble in Paradise kick strike. "Whoo hoo!" Lawler said. Kofi then made the cover for the win.
Post-match: Jack Swagger interrupted Kofi's celebration by blasting him with strikes. Swagger then dropped Miz with his gutwrench powerbomb. Swagger picked up the U.S. Title belt and held it up for the audience to close the build-up for their three-way title match at the PPV.
WINNER: Kofi in 12:00. Good, solid, fundamentally-sound singles match to build up an undercard title match on the PPV. Not really much else to say about it. (**1/4)
Arcademan:
TNA Impact! Results: 10-1-09
Results courtesy of ProWrestling.net (direct link to Twilling's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.
1. Amazing Red defeated Kiyoshi, Bashir, Black Machismo, and Consequences Creed in a ladder match for a future X Division Title shot in 3:57. Red worked alone against two tag teams and he was the first to climb the ladder. Backstage, Abyss beat the crap out of some extras looking for Foley.
Bashir and Machismo looked impressive. Machismo moved up the ladder but Red tipped it over. Red hit four amazing moves, one per opponent. He then finished off Creed by hitting a hurricarana on him, causing him to vomit. Seriously. Thankfully, they showed a replay of it. Red grabbed the contract for the win...
After the match, Red proved he wasn’t a good promo when JB interviewed him in the aisle. Machismo interrupted and said he was robbed. Chunks Creed got in between them and walked Lethal to the back...
Twill’s Two Cents: That was the Amazing Red show. He dominated the match and hit every impressive spot. Nice job by him and nice to see him looking impressive in the ring again. Hopefully he is not simply fed to Joe next week.
2. Kevin Nash defeated Dr. Stevie (with Daffney) in a non-title match in 2:52. Remember the Blue World Order? Stevie was Nash. It’s like they are looking in a mirror. Richards had the advantage early because of a Daffney distraction. Once Nash gained the advantage, he hit the Jackknife for the win. He covered Stevie with his foot...
Twill’s Two Cents: Nothing special about it really, but it was solid filler.
3. Christy Hemme defeated Traci Brooks in 1:54. So, they had to say “Models” and not “Playmates” because Traci was not a cover girl? Christy won the match with a rollup. Traci attacked her afterward...
4. ODB defeated Awesome Kong (with Raisha Saeed) to retain the TNA Knockout Championship in 2:50. Personally, it is ridiculous to me that this match was not advertised ahead of time. This is a big match between two huge female names in TNA history. Tara was very solid on the stick.
Kong rubbed ODB’s face in her armpit. She hit a bodyslam and legdrop for a two count. Raisha Saeed approached Tara and shoved her. Tara left the table and Kong grabbed her from the ring. Tara closelined Kong across the top rope. She fell backward and ODB school-girled her for the win...
After the match, Tara and ODB shoved each other. They started to fight a little bit but Kong came back into the ring. She hit Implant Busters on both Tara and Jason’s drinking buddy...
Twill’s Two Cents: I like the idea of a triple threat at BFG, since Tara vs. Kong doesn’t have the appeal it did a few months ago.
5. Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez ended in a double countout in 4:24. Hernandez hit a vertical suplex in which he held Angle up for literally about thirty seconds. Angle immediately fought back with a released German suplex. He followed up with a series of offensive maneuvers to the legs of Hernandez. Angle tried a high cross body, but Hernandez caught him, and hit a sit down powerbomb for a two count.
Hernandez scored a very convincing nearfall when it looked like he was trying a border toss, but he hit a dominator instead for a long two count. They fought to the floor and the referee counted to ten. The World Elite came out and beat up both guys. They took them backstage and the Mafia came to Angle’s aid. The security had to break up the brawl...
Twill’s Two Cents: Give credit to TNA for making the World Elite look strong as a unit (minus that ladder match). They should use this match to prove Hernandez can hang with Angle.
6. Matt Morgan defeated Eric Young by disqualification in 2:50. I love how Eric Young is billed as being “from Canada.” That would be like saying Rich Twilling is “from the United States.” Young was dominated until he raked Morgan’s eyes. On the floor, a “fan” dressed as Abyss hit Morgan with a chair. It was revealed to be Angle and the referee called for the bell...
Both factions ran out and brawled with each other...
Twill’s Two Cents: I hope the security staff is being paid overtime tonight. Shoot, they have been involved in more segments than Eric Young, and that is saying something. By the way, Angle foreshadowed this earlier in the show by staring down this fan on his way to the ring for his own match. By the way, that match didn’t do Young any favors.
7. Bobby Lashley and Team 3D defeated Rhino and The British Invasion (with Big Rob) in 6:06. Lashley dominated early, but then the heels focused their attack on Brother Devon. Taz was drinking beers with Storm, but he acted like he had already had an entire twelve pack.
Lashley received the hot tag and beat up all three opponents. His partners joined him with the “Wazzup” head butt. Team 3D cleared the ring as Lashley was left with one of the members of the British Invasion. He locked in a dragon sleeper type submission for the win. After the match, Lashley slapped hands with the ringside fans as everyone else drank.
As Lashley was walking back up the ramp, Samoa Joe attacked him from behind and locked in the rear naked choke. He did his best “Undertaker” eyes as the show went off the air...
Twill’s Two Cents: Not a big fan of the main event, but I love that Joe looked dominant going off the air. Very interested to see Joe next week and how they follow up with this.
Arcademan:
WWE Smackdown Results: 10-2-09
Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Park's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.
1- BATISTA vs. KANE
Smackdown moment #64 from the newly-released Smackdown DVD aired during Batista’s entrance. It was from November 2005, Rey and Batista vs. MNM. Ugh, Kane? This isn’t much of a step up from Batista vs. Big Show last week. Big uppercut from Kane out of the corner. Back elbow put Batista on the mat again, but Kane missed an elbowdrop. Kane suplexed his way out of a side headlock. Kane seemed to be centering in on the surgically-repaired left arm of Batista. On an overhead wrist-lock, Batista simply shoved Kane over the top rope and to the outside. Kane seemed surprised at the strength displayed by Batista.
Kane was in control with an arm-bar out of break. Stereo big boots and both men went down. Batista was the one to get the advantage, with a flying shoulder tackle and a couple corner clotheslines. Kane came back and went to the top, coming down with a clothesline. He signaled that the chokeslam was next, but instead, Batista hit him with a spinebuster for two. He set up for the Batista Bomb, but Kane rammed him into the corner. Batista came down off the top and into a choke, but Batista countered. Kane went up to do the ten punches in the corner, but Batista powerbombed him out of the corner for the win.
WINNER: Batista, at 9:48. Unless I missed it, they didn’t really seem to hype this was Kane’s first pinfall loss on Smackdown, after talking it up the past two weeks. This was probably as good as it could be.
2- JOHN MORRISON & KOFI KINGSTON vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER & THE MIZ
Kingston seemed pissed at Kofi’s entrance and slammed the headset down. I guess that’s it for his commentary. And for what it’s worth, Justin Roberts was handling ring announcing for Smackdown this week as well. Morrison took out Miz to start with a dropsault and clothesline over the top. Ziggler tried to come in illegally and was chased out by Kingston. Match went to break less than one minute in.
Kingston was having his way with Ziggler as Miz was getting frustrated at ringside. Swagger distracted Kofi, and Ziggler brought him down throat-first over the top rope. The southpaw Miz went to work on Kofi in th heel corner. He went to the top and came down with a double-axe handle (not seen much these days). Miz tried to do his catapult double-team move that he did with Morrison with Ziggler, but when Kofi came up, he punched Ziggler instead of the other way around. Ziggler ended up tagging Miz in and telling him to finish Kofi off. But instead, he missed a shoulder charge in the corner. Kingston and Miz both made tags, but Morrison got the best of the exchange. Standing shooting star press for two. Kofi went for the Flying Chuck, but he shoved Morrison, crotching him on the top, then hit the Zig Zag for the win.
WINNERS: Ziggler and Miz, at 8:44. Good match, thought the Zig Zag didn’t look good, and they didn’t really talk much (if at all) about Morrison and Miz being on opposite sides, but they had bigger things (the title matches) to get over in this match.
3- MELINA vs. MICHELLE MCCOOL- LUMBERJACK MATCH FOR THE WOMEN’S TITLE
Eve Torres, Maria, Beth Phoenix, Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Katie Lea, Jillian Hall, Layla, Natalya, Savannah (but no Courtney Taylor?), The Bellas and Kelly Kelly were the Lumberjacks. Probably stupid to ask this on a show where they celebrate the 10th anniversary, but would it kill them to have hyped this up, even during the show? McCool started with the advantage, but it didn’t last for long. Melina did a split on the apron to avoid a punch, but then Michelle kicked her out. Before she let the ladies get a hold of her, McCool went out and brought Melina back in. Melina came back and hit a flap-jack on Michelle that got a two-count. Rough-looking clothesline by Melina. Apparently Jillian got involved as Melina jumped on the outside onto Jillian and another girl. Everyone on the outside started brawling and while the ref tried to restore order, Beth Phoenix nailed Melina while she was on the top, allowing Michelle to hit he Faith Breaker for the win.
WINNER: McCool, at 2:30. Disappointing hype and match. Just felt unimportant in the grand scheme of things; why wouldn’t you save this for a show that had little content, and could therefore seem like a bigger deal?
4- SHAWN MICHAELS & TRIPLE H & JOHN CENA & THE UNDERTAKER vs. RANDY ORTON & TED DIBIASE & CODY RHODES & C.M. PUNK
Cena and Rhodes led things off, a match-up that we’ve seen on numerous Raw multi-man main event tags. Triple H punched Rhodes in the face, and Rhodes crawled to the corner to tag in his partner this Sunday. Hunter pummeled DiBiase in the corner, then brought HBK in to do some damage. It was all face team here in the first few minutes. Michaels extended a hand to tag Taker, but Taker paused to stare at Michaels, allowing DiBiase to take back over. Taker did tag in soon after, and the former Wrestlemania foes stared at each other in the ring as they went to break.
Taker was in there with Rhodes out of break. He then tagged out to Hunter. Long standing vertical suplex, but not as long as Matt Morgan’s last night on Impact. DX continued to pwn Legacy in this match and as I type that, a flurry of rights from Rhodes put Michaels on the mat. Randy Orton and C.M. Punk made their first appearances of the match, one right after the other. Michaels and Orton both ended up on the mat- Cody tagged in and an enziguiri by Michaels gave him some time to tag, and he did, to Cena. Cena had to fight off both Legacy members, and put both of them on his back for an Attitude Adjustment. But Rhodes got down and the two heels gave him the Sweet ‘n’ Sour, which is at the point they took the final break.
Back with Punk and Cena engaged in battle. Orton came in and seemed to have his way with Cena, ‘til Cena got him in the Atttiude Adjustment out of nowhere, but couldn’t connect, as Orton DDT’d him. DiBiase made his presence known as the legal man with a kick to a seated Cena’s head. But Cena got the better of him and both men made tags, to Punk and Hunter. Patented spinebuster by The Game. Taker tagged in, but Punk dove to tag Orton. Snake Eyes, ironically, to the Viper Orton. Back-breaker by Orton, but he got caught in Hell’s Gate, only briefly, as DiBiase broke it up. Everybody started brawling at that point, as Michaels superkicked DiBiase and Hunter Pedigreed him. Cena got Punk up for the Attitude Adjustment and tossed him onto Legacy at ringside. All four faces were in the ring with the lone heel, Orton. Taker, the legal man, Tombstoned Orton. Mike Chioda didn’t seem worried that all four of the men were still in the ring while he made his count.
WINNERS: Taker, Hunter, HBK and Cena, at 21:39. Roberts pulled a Lilian and announced Undertaker as the winner, as if it was a one-on-one match.
Confetti fell from the ceiling as all the faces celebrated with their music playing for about 30-45 second spurts, before it went to another face’s music. Naturally, it ended with Undertaker.
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