Saturday, June 14, 2008

ECW & Smackdown update (week 9 - 06.09.2008)

ECW

This show is just plain fun, lately. Although Matt Sydal debuting two weeks ago under his real name, and then re-debuting under the name Evan Bourne was just plain stupid. I have no idea why they won't just let him wrestle under his established name. My girlfriend said that they should take the Jason Bourne approach and have Evan Bourne come out every week thinking it's his debut. Anyway . . .

Kane & CM Punk lost a Tag Team title match against Miz & Morrison. No shit. Funny that the current ECW champ and the Money in the Bank holder didn't win the tag straps. Stupid. ECW needs like two tag teams that can challenge for those belts. You could have a million matches with just two more teams. Why not move London & Kendrick and Wang & Moore to ECW if/when Yang comes back?

Kofi & Bourne teamed up against Knox & Shelton in a really fun, indie-style match. Disgusting-looking dropkick from the top gave Bourne a pin on Knox. Just brutal.

Teddy has a new assistant named Tiffany No Last Name For The Divas, who got hit on by Estrada, leading to an Estrada/Finaly "match." Finaly destroyed Estrada, and then was again beaten by Delany (again). Then, Estrada was beaten by Hornswoggle. Is this guy being punished for something? Post-match, Finlay, Hornswoggle, & Delany all danced around until Delany took Hornswoggle's hat and Finlay laid him out . . . for some reason. Weird.

Victoria was victorious (nice, huh?) against Cherry in another one of these mysterious, new-title qualifying matches. Harsh-looking bump from the apron knocked out Cherry for the Victoria win.

Mark Henry continued to get in the face of the Big Show, reminding him that if Show wins at Night of Champions (NOC), he wants to challenge him first. I like Mark Henry, but Show would be a way better champ.

Smackdown

Show opened with Vickie and Batista getting the contract ready for the NOC PPV match between Batista and Edge. Of course, Edge had already signed it, but Vickie added two portions to the contract, stating that not only did Bastista have to beat the Great Khali (again) to get his match, but if he lost, he'd be banished from WWE, just like the Undertaker. Of course, Batista beat Khali (again) in the main event and the NOC match is on. Gah.

Backstage, CM Punk interrupted Edge and teased that he was going to cash in his Money in the Bank contract at Edge's wedding, which would be hilarious. This led to an MVP/Punk match after MVP asked Vickie to re-negotiate his contract. Basically, she told him to take out Punk and they'd talk.

MVP/Punk match was pretty long for a TV match, and saw MVP working over Punk's left arm and shoulder. Finish was clever, though: MVP took off the protective covering from the top turnbuckle in one corner, and while Lil' Natch was re-applying it, MVP went to smash Punk with his MITB briefcase. Punk ended up doing his knee-in-the-corner thing, causing MVP to drop the briefcase. Punk picked it up right as the ref turned around and was DQ'd based on the assumption that Punk leveled MVP with said briefcase. Neat, but I love the fact that refs can end matches on assumptions.

In a flashback to last week's Smackdown, we see Finaly and Hornswoggle challenging Miz & Morrison for their belts. I don't remember this happening, but whatever. Smackdown this week saw Morrison vs. Finlay, with Morrison getting the pin with a roll-up after Miz tried to beat up That Little Bastard and Finlay intervened.

Cherry and Maryse squared off in another mysterious Diva qualifying match. I guess the way this works is that Natalya is in the match for the new belt for sure, and the rest of the Divas are competing for the other spot. If it's not Victoria, I'm going to be pissed, but chances are it's going to be a face instead of another heel. Argh.

Chavo announced that he and Matt Hardy would be wrestling for Matt's US title at NOC. With "Useless" Bam Neely and Chavo sitting ringside (but not on guest commentary, which was a nice change), Matt Hardy took on Chuck "Slash" Palumbo (skip ahead to :50) and picked up a win with the Twist of Fate.

Mark Henry beat Tommy Dreamer to kill time until NOC is over.

In another terrible tag-team move, Jesse & Festus beat Deuce & Domino, who then fought each other because they were mad about losing. Finally, wrestling fans can get the feuds they've been clamoring for: Lance Cade vs. Deuce and Tervor Murdoch vs. Domino! YES.


VARIOUS NOTES

-Next week brings the second installment of Vince's money giveaway thing, which should be finished soon, because it didn't help ratings whatsoever.

-Apparantly, Carlito talked shit on HHH at some Chilean press conference because he's once again unhappy with his place on the roster or whatever. Good idea, Carlito, bringing up how easy it is for HHH to get a championship because he married Stephanie. Instead of bitching, why don't you work on your in-ring skills? That might have something to do with it. He could be a contender for the US or even the IC belt if he just tried a little harder.

-JR had this to say about Bryan Danielson & ROH (from JR's blog):

"I watched ROH's Bryan Danielson wrestle in Oakland and I told any one who would listen that the young man is a keeper. Great work ethic, unique skills, lots of character, and he wrestles like he is a "star" which is not something all wrestlers can do. I wished Bryan good luck as I left the arena in Oakland Monday and he went back to speaking with Shawn Michaels which can't be a bad thing for Bryan. Not unlike the CAC the WWE might be well served to help subsidize the ROH as they seem to be one of the most viable entities when it comes to developing talent. Pat Patterson told me that the show the young kids had on Monday Night for the CAC was "excellent" and that there were several kids that the WWE should seriously look at sooner than late."

Why the WWE hasn't taken ROH under it's wing as a developmental promotion is beyond me. It'd make me attend more shows, that's for sure.

1 comment:

Patrick said...

Dude! That's my birthday (9/12)! I should totally get a million people to go and get drunk. Last time I was there it was to see Tool w/ Morrow (he was reviewing the show). That place is weird.

Anyways, I love your blog - I don't/can't really watch any more, so it's nice to read entertaining recaps.

Why on earth is Mark Henry back? That's retarded.