Nanny

By the time she gets back, I think Trish will be able to give her a good run for her money I hope anyways.

MMB

1. If Trish doesn't get injured

2. If Trish will still be the Champ at the moment (don't mean a run from now till then without an interuption)

1+2 --> Yup, she sure will

MMB

Interesting view after Unforgiven:

(just wanted to share this)


Well - do you feel Unforgiven? Do you? I do, but that’s just maybe a reaction to the amount of caffeine loaded drinks I swallowed last night to stay awake - a side effect of that is that today - I’m flying! Wheeeeeeeeeeee! I feel good. I feel better than James Brown. I feel better now. Ahhh. Anyway, onto things more becoming a column about wrestling.

Well, it wasn’t a Summerslam of a show, but it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve watched this year, and did contain what is probably the match of the year - can you guess which one? On the other hand, there was also some really, really stupid booking and finishes in some of the matches, including a no contest in the main event - the match that was used to sell the PPV, and there’s no decisive finish.

Now, being in the UK, it was on a sports channel, and we didn’t have to pay any extra to see it, but If I’d have forked out my £14 or $35, whatever, I’d have been majorly annoyed that there was no finish to the main event - you expect DQ’s and count-outs and no contests on Raw and Smackdown, not on a PPV, but I’ll get to that match in minute. Before I talk about the good, and the bad, I’d like to discuss the average, the middle of the road, the stuff that was ‘there’ and no more.

Count the opener in this one - if you take away Bubba’s near crippling of Lance Storm, then there wasn’t really a whole lot to this one - Booker does most of the work, gets the crowd going for him... so Kane takes the pin. Riiiiiiight. Parts of this match were fudged, the ‘dropkick-into-the-table-on-the-apron’ spot, as I call it, looked a bit messed up, the finish looked stalled - Kane was waiting for Lance to pop up for too long. I suppose Lance looking semi-concussed from the drop onto his head couldn’t have helped his timing.

Storm and Christian need some decent tag teams to compete against, or they need to get the hell out of the tag division - it’s killing them. They are both good competitors being dragged down by having to share breathing space with William Regal and Test, and it hurts to watch.

Jericho Flair also falls into the ‘ech’ category. I thought we were in for a good match, Flair looked as good as he has since Wrestlemania, Jericho was ‘on’ and the crowd were into it, then the finish came right out of nowhere. Looking back on what happened later, yes, the finish made sense, and helped start a new storyline later on in the night... but you can’t help feeling it’s a coincidence that it’s Jericho’s match that gets sacrificed for the purpose of furthering an angle involving... well, you get the picture.

As for Molly and Trish - well, it mercifully it was short. Maybe it was just me, but I got the feeling there was genuine animosity between the two - they didn’t look like they were working to easy on each other. As much as JR was going out of his way to put Trish over, and as annoying and intrusive as it was, he does have a point - she has worked really hard to improve and is shaping up as one of the best in the Women’s division in a while... but to be fair, nobody really gives a damn, and should this have been on PPV ahead of a Cruiserweight match? Hell NO!

Rosie & Jamal made their debut... and they look like legitimate bad-asses. Can’t say they look like the shining light that will save the Tag Division, but they’re OK. Just have to point out - Vince, using the tried and trusted “Samoans have hard heads” gimmick is played out now. Are they street gangstas, or Headshrinkers Version 3.0? You decide.

The match was pretty much OK though - Billy didn’t screw up, which was unusual, and I still say that Chuck Palumbo is a main eventer in the making. It’s ironic - that Billy & Chuck now look more of a legit threat as a tag team than they ever have... and they’re on the wrong show to challenge for the tag belts. Get it sorted!

And from that, let’s move onto the good. The video for No Mercy with Pete Rose and the Trick or Treaters! How good was that! Give Pete Rose some training, and there’s your next World Champion in the making. Well, maybe not, but hey, if Trips can get given a belt, then anything’s possible!

Quick shout out to the guy in the crowd with the “Eddie Guerrero Moed My Lawn” sign... sir, you have my sympathy - you just showed yourself up on Worldwide TV - and I salute you for it. Fortunately, the match was better than said gentlemen’s spelling... Edge showed again why he is, in my eyes, ready to main event right now. Granted Eddie, can make anyone look good, but Edge has that something that makes the crowd buy into him.

Maybe it’s the hair, maybe it’s the excessive amount of teeth, I don’t know - but the crowd were buying this one, and were all over this match. The crowd, it has to be said, were hot for pretty much the whole show, so kudos to them. Couple of really nice spots in the match, including the finish - I love that sunset flip into a powerbomb move, and nobody does it better than Eddie. Eddie took the win, which screams rematch next month to me, possibly a gimmicked match, like a cage match... whatever happens, Edge is ready - pull the trigger and turn him loose.

And what can you say about Sir Christopher Benoit and Lord Kurt Angle? I had a bad feeling going into this one that it couldn’t possibly be as good as I thought it was going to be - I was right - it was better. It’s matches like this one that remind me why I like wrestling so much. Both men were on the ball, and had the crowd in the palm of their hands. Benoit may not be able to use a mic, but he can tell a story in the ring as good as anyone - and when the guy on the other side of the ring is Angle... say no more.

The mat wrestling exhibition in the first portion of this match was as good as anything I’ve seen in the WWE - only the Benoit/Angle matches from last year can compare to it. The beautiful series of German suplexes and reversals in the middle of the match showcased what these two guys are all about, just amazing wrestling and counter-wrestling... stunning to watch. I loved the scramble for the submissions too - both men sold each move as if it was death, and the crowd, again, were all over this one.

This is match of the year so far by a long, long way, and unless there’s a rematch next month - which looks likely given Benoit won with the aid of the ropes - then there’s nothing going to topple it from that lofty perch, and rightfully so. Benoit and Angle - the best in the business right now, without question.

Before I get to the Championship matches... Let’s talk about HLA. Or rather, let’s talk about the promise of it, then the blatantly obvious sight of Rikishi in drag waddling down the aisle. I’ll be damned if anyone said that they didn’t know it was Rikishi under that “make-up” - and that in itself begs the question - who set this up? Did Steph really have that much confidence in Chuck & Billy that she set up the Rikishi sting? For a moment though, when Bisch was talking about the ugliest lesbian he could find, I thought Vince had given Nicole Bass her job back...

What a total waste of time, and insult to everyone’s intelligence this whole segment was... if there was no intention of having Steph do anything like that - and lets face it, there can’t have been - then what’s the point in setting this whole scenario up? Surely Vince can’t hold that much of a grudge towards Bisch that he would gladly waste PPV time to embarrass him? Oh, wait, how silly of me - of course he could.

MMB

And on to the McMahon-in-waiting, Triple H. You know, for a moment I thought he was going to do the deed and lay down for RVD. He was giving him his share of offence, he was selling (kinda) for him... hell, RVD even got to crack a funny at HHH’s expense, with the water bottle effort. But then, as soon as you saw Ric Flair toddle down the aisle, you could have predicted what was going to happen.

But here’s the deal - I can understand why Flair turned on RVD - and here’s why. Jericho made him look a fool by pulling the fake injury stunt. What HHH said was true - the Flair that I knew wouldn’t have left him alone - he’d have taken that injury apart and made Jericho tap in a heartbeat. Then, with the RVD - HHH confrontation, didn’t RVD say in a roundabout way that Ric Flair was a loser : “I’d rather be associated with a so-called loser like Ric Flair” and Flair stared a hole in him... But while the turn makes sense, did it need to happen in the middle of a title match? even for a title that is as meaningless as the one that Trips carries?

Of course it did - if there was no interference on Trips’ behalf, he might have had to job to RVD! The shame! But deep down, even though I predicted RVD, I knew Trips would never job to him. Where Trips, Flair and even RVD go from here is beyond me - if RVD can’t get the job done, who else is there on Raw? Now is the time for Booker to be given the chance. Put Booker in the mix with Trips and give him a run with the belt - no one cares about Triple H anymore, other than Triple H himself.

And speaking of no one cares - no one cares about a finish to a PPV main event that is designed purely to save face for The Undertaker. Up until the silly overbooking kicked in (Matt Hardy???) it wasn’t that bad a match - the build up to it set the tone nicely, and Brock looked ready. To me, Brock showed how far he’s come - he sold like a demon for Taker, and even though that kinda negates the image of Brock being a monster, it was a nice touch.

It’s a shame that the respect Brock showed Taker wasn’t reflected back. Taker should have lost this one - everyone and his dog knows it, except the Taker and Vince. They are trying to build Lesnar as a killer - yet Undertaker can shrug off everything Lesnar throws at him, the interference of Paul Heyman and Matt Hardy and not even lose any heat? What the HELL does that accomplish for anyone other than the Taker?

Yes, we know you’re a big bad man - yes, we know you’re a legend - now start acting like one and do what’s right for the company. Is it any wonder Triple H feels he can get away with half the stuff he pulls when a genuine legend like Taker is pulling the same garbage? I don’t care what anyone says - in my eyes, Taker should have laid down for Lesnar and done the job like a man.

I don’t care if Lesnar hasn’t “paid his dues” or spoke to someone the wrong way backstage, or wears the wrong colour jockstrap, whatever pointless and silly reason the veteran wrestlers keep coming up with - Lesnar is the future of the company - Undertaker is not. Taker is a legend, and is one of my all-time favourites - but on this occasion he was wrong. Stupid booking, and leaves a bad taste in the mouth at the end of an otherwise good show.

Like I said at the start of the column - it wasn’t on a Summerslam level of greatness, but the majority of it was OK at least, one good match, and one superb match... balance that with some pointless in-ring segments, stupid booking and selfish performances, and it all evens itself out. In the end - I did like the show, but the ending nearly sucked the will to live out of me.

NDD

I thought Unforgiven was good.

I liked that the UnAmericans were beat.

I especially LOVE that Trish is the Women's Champion! I'm so happy.

And I thought the match between Brock and Undertaker was great. I never thought about the concept of a Draw. I actually thought there was going to be a decision.

MMB

Nick, I'm sure ya loved the part with Trish


Well the draw between Brock & Taker means that the story line between them for the Title, is far from over ... it's probably just starting ...

NDD

Should probably last about 2 or 3 more months if creative can keep coming up with new stuff to add to the story.

MMB

Yeah and I think it's great ... this is one of the advantages with having two titles again ... you see?

Having two titles means at least 4 superstars battling for the titles, so they don't have to switch that soon between Superstars (going for the title match), that means they can build up long/exciting story lines again for the Gold ...

Tell me, how long has it been there was a feud for more than 3 months (3 ppv's) involving the title? (like for example the Kurt Angle vs. The Rock storyline)

Well now they can rebuild such moments And they already are with Taker vs. Brock & RVD vs. HHH