From Baltimore MD, the WWE brings us the last PPV of the year, and it's sans John Cena!! This was a PPV I was really looking forward to, a lot of great matches set up, and it turned out to have some big highs, and some very low lows.
Zack Ryder def Dolph Ziggler via Pin
6.7/ 10 What a great opening match, full of fast paced action and last minute counters. The crowd was really into this match, and deservedly so. In the end, I hate to see Ziggler lose the belt, but I hope this means he will be moving on ti bigger and better things, Royal Rumble anyone?
Air Boom def Primo & Epico via Pin
5.5/10 Oh that's right, we do have Tag Team Champions. A Decent match, both teams seemed to work well together, not a whole lot more to say about this match that was added at the last minute.
Randy Orton def Wade Barrett by RKOing him through a Table
7/10 This was a pretty good tables match, a lot of close calls, and some pretty unique attempts. The finish is really what gave this match the high score, Randy's laying on a table and as Barrett comes down off the top rope, Orton pops up and hits the RKO in midair, amazing.
Beth Phoenix def Kelly Kelly via Pin
2/10 A lot of people think I'm too harsh on the Divas, to those people I say sit through this match, then say that to my face. This was on of if not the, worst match I've very seen. The start of the match is just complete, unrealistic crap, then the crowd is so quite, we can actually hear Beth yelling at Kelly when she misses her ques for a roll up and a counter. The fact that someone as talented as Phoenix has to get in there and babysit some one as hapless as Kelly Kelly is just sad. They better give me Phoenix vs Natty at WM28, they owe me after this match.
Triple H def Kevin Nash via Pin
7.8/10 This was one of the most brutal ladder matches I've ever seen, which was how we all knew it would go down, although you can't really compare this to other ladder matches, because the ladders were mostly used for beat downs. No one even attempted to climb a ladder for at least 10 minutes. The ending was sledge-tastic, yeah that's right, sledge-tastic.
Sheamus def Jack Swagger via Pin
6/10 This was another last minute addition to the show and a pretty standard Sheamus match, which is in no way a bad thing. I would have liked to see Swagger get a win, since a loss wouldn't really hurt Sheamus, where as another loss keeps pushing Swagger down.
Big Show def Mark Henry via Pin
5.5/10 A pretty short match, and not the worst offering between the two men, I'm looking at you Survivor Series. Show hits a WMD pins Henry and wins his first World Championship in 9 years. Henry gets up, beats Show with a chair, then lands a DDT onto a pile of chairs which leads to.
Daniel Bryan def Big Show via Pin
N/A I wish I could rate this, because I liked it, and it would add to the overall score of the PPV, and while technically it was a match, there wasn't a single move applied, other then a pin. it was a good pin, should I rate the pin? IDK let me know in the comments.
So Daniel Bryan is our new World Heavyweight Champion. I really would have liked to see him wait and cash the MITB at Wrestlemania, but i am glad to see him have the belt.
Cody Rhodes def Booker T via Pin
6.5/10 They kept teasing us that this match might not happen, and I'm very glad it did as this is one of the matches i was really looking forward to. It was a good match and Booker T looked pretty good up until the end when he looked very winded and even had a hard time finishing the spin-a-rooni. In the end, Rhodes puts away a veteran as he takes one more step up the ladder and Booker T has a great one final match.
CM Punk def The Miz & Alberto Del Rio in a Triple Threat TLC Match
8.3/10 This was the best ladder match of the year. A ton of action, very innovative offence with the weapons, and has the best use of handcuffs in a match, ever. The ending is pulse pounding and works very well.
6.14/10 All in all this was a really good show, that had just one really bad element that took it down. With 9 matches it's one of the fullest booked shows of the year. The crowd started hot but it seems like the got burned out after the opening match because they were very quiet throughout the rest of the show till the main event when they came back to life.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Required Viewing #1
This is a new feature I've been thinking about doing for a little while now, it's all about documentaries, and older PPV's that should not be missed by any wrestling fan.
THE UNREAL STORY OF PRO WRESTLING - 1998
This is a documentary that aired in 1998 on A&E. It is narrated by Steve Allen and covers wrestling beginnings all the way up to the Monday Night Wars. Much of the current footage was shot in 1997 from both WWF and WCW.
It talks about wrestling as a legitimate sport post Civil War, but controversy and long match times killed it, only to be replaced with performers, who used to wrestle on the road in carnivals. The carnival operators carved out territories for themselves and became promoters. In The 1920's The Gold Dust Trio of wrestler Ed "Strangler" Lewis, manager Bill Sandow and promoter "Toots" Mondt formed and they made wrestling what it is today, putting multiple, shorter, more exciting matches on one card. Mondt developed an array of flashy crowd pleasing moves, many of which are still used today. But it's popularity didn't last long when a scorned promoter spilled the beans about it being fake. But the late 40's saw wrestling's rebirth when it came to television.
There are so many legends talking about the old days, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, "Killer" Kowalski, Verne Gagne, Classy Freddie Blassie, The Fabulous Moolah, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, everyone in this. And they talk about the careers of some of the greats, like Lou Thesz, Gorgeous George, Buddy Rodgers, they ever talk about a man named Handsome Jim Londos, who wasn't very talented in the ring but was still able to get over with the fans, especially the women because of his good looks, now who does that sound like?
This is a great documentary and should not be missed, it is available on Netflix.
THE UNREAL STORY OF PRO WRESTLING - 1998
This is a documentary that aired in 1998 on A&E. It is narrated by Steve Allen and covers wrestling beginnings all the way up to the Monday Night Wars. Much of the current footage was shot in 1997 from both WWF and WCW.
It talks about wrestling as a legitimate sport post Civil War, but controversy and long match times killed it, only to be replaced with performers, who used to wrestle on the road in carnivals. The carnival operators carved out territories for themselves and became promoters. In The 1920's The Gold Dust Trio of wrestler Ed "Strangler" Lewis, manager Bill Sandow and promoter "Toots" Mondt formed and they made wrestling what it is today, putting multiple, shorter, more exciting matches on one card. Mondt developed an array of flashy crowd pleasing moves, many of which are still used today. But it's popularity didn't last long when a scorned promoter spilled the beans about it being fake. But the late 40's saw wrestling's rebirth when it came to television.
There are so many legends talking about the old days, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, "Killer" Kowalski, Verne Gagne, Classy Freddie Blassie, The Fabulous Moolah, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, everyone in this. And they talk about the careers of some of the greats, like Lou Thesz, Gorgeous George, Buddy Rodgers, they ever talk about a man named Handsome Jim Londos, who wasn't very talented in the ring but was still able to get over with the fans, especially the women because of his good looks, now who does that sound like?
This is a great documentary and should not be missed, it is available on Netflix.
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