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| Squared Circle #15 - Great American Review | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 29 2007, 11:22 PM (122 Views) | |
| administrator | Jul 29 2007, 11:22 PM Post #1 |
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Ladies and Gentlemen, This past Sunday seen the fourth attempt by World Wrestling Entertainment to stage a Great American Bash. As it stands now, WWE could be accountable for four charges of false advertising, as naming the event "Great American Bash" indicates a high standard of programming which thus far has never been lived up to. Of course, if WWE Canada's resident president, the maple-syrup drinking, curling-loving patriotic crackpot that is Carl DiMarco had anything to do with it, this pay-per-view would have been staged in Vancouver, and the "American" part of the "Great American Bash" would become devoid too. Note to WWE, next year just name the show "The Bash". Matt Hardy vs MVP - The two best workers on Friday Night SmackDown kicked off this pay-per-view with what ended up being a solid match as expected. The US Championship is finally starting to mean something, and this match lived up to what I expected it to be, a very good contest. The ring psychology was spot on, and the execution of the moves and holds were generally done to perfection with the exception of the finish. The match could've been doing with going a little longer than 13-minutes, but on an overbooked card like this, I guess we should be glad we got as much out of this contest as we did entertainment-wise. MVP hit the Playmaker to win the match, and the move looked a little off at a first look; after looking back at the dvd the following day, it was clear the finish was a blown spot, which was a shame. The most Ballin' Champ in decades got the clean pinfall win at the 13 mark, and that was Ballgame. No, not Triple H and Batista's private life, but this United States Championship Contest. Overall, it made sense to book MVP to retain as he needs the title to help him get over whereas Hardy doesn't to that extent. So far in the show, I was pleased with the booking. Match Rating: 8/10 Cruiserweight Open - Another fairly good match for what it was, this could have been a lot worse, and similarly, could have been much better with some thoughtful booking. Not much to say about this match really other than that the action was solid, most of the spots were executed well enough, and the finish was a cool comedy moment and made the show a little more lighthearted, and less predictable. From that point of view, it made sense to book Hornswoggle to win the title, however, if that title meant nothing before, it sure as hell means nothing now. An awful move for the future of the Cruiserweight Title, which is already a kiss of death on the career and push of anybody who actually wins it. Incidentally, the Dusty promo before this match was more entertaining than the match itself. Hornswoggle's celebration afterwards was funny but I wished they'd aired the planned Backstage celebration Vignettes with the Guiness and the Lucky charms. Never mind, there's always time for those on SmackDown at the moment with nothing else happening on the brand. Match Rating: 6/10 The Sandman vs Carlito - At first I thought that the cane had been put too high up the pole because all the camera shots appeared to show it being way above Sandman and Carlito's reach. Two questions I had to ask before this match even began were where is Sandman's beer, and secondly, why does Lilian Garcia insist on calling him "Sandman" rather than "The Sandman"? Not only can she not ski, she can't announce either, but she looked hot as hell on this show, so all is forgiven. As for the match itself, I felt it was a complete filler match which added nothing to the card, and took time away from some of the more interesting matches on the show. The whole way the match was booked seemed pointless to me, with the two guys spending so long reaching for the cane, and it ending up as a complete non-factor anyway. What sense it makes to have a cane match where a cane is never actually used, I will never know, but I guess Triple H or somebody else on the creative team clearly does. On a more positive note, I'm glad they've put this short feud to bed, and will run with Carlito vs Lashley for a while. Match Rating: 4/10 Candice vs Melina - Wow, did Jim Ross oversell this contest in his commentary or what?! "Candice has been working really hard, and has improved", he told us a good 45 times during the course of the match. Why WWE commentators always overstate those things which are already painfull obvious to anybody with eyes is completely beyond me. The match itself was good, and the two ladies worked really hard to put on a decent match. It featured some nice hold and counter-hold wrestling, good matwork, and a couple of believable false-finishes. All in all, whilst not a classic, it won't go down as a poor match, or a botchfest like their match at Vengeance where Candice won the title and blew the finish in the process, and then started crying for one or both of those reasons. Whilst I have enjoyed Candice and Melina's work over the past few months, I hope this is the end of the rivalry, not because their matches have been bad, but just because we need to see something fresh and interesting in the Womens division. Hey, maybe they could bring in Stephanie and Triple H's daughter Aurora Rose in a couple of years, and on that note I must thank her for her contibutions to the wrestling business on this, her 1st birthday week. For those of you wandering what Im on about, making Stephanie take a day off counts as a huge contribution to the wrestling business. Match Rating: 7/10 ECW World Title Match - Another one of those average matches which wont be remembered because it sucked and wont be remembered because it was good. This match is destined to be forgotten, much like the forgettably low-profile feud between Punk and Morrison. This underwhelmingly booked feud, which non-ECW fans would have no idea was even taking place until Punk's music hit, has been alright for what it is, a standby package put together in light of the Benoit tragedy until WWE decides what to do with the ECW Championship. It's clear that Punk and Nitro don't have great chemistry in the ring, and they never really clicked with each other to make off a nice feud... Some people work well together in an angle, and these are two guys who quite clearly don't. I thought it made sense to keep the title on Nitro here so they can squeeze one final match out of a mediocre feud at summerslam. However, if Punk doesn't take the belt at Summerslam, does anybody see a future for the World Title? This Championship picture has all the sense of direction of a blind man in a tornado, and a new roster member is needed desperately for the Dub. Match Rating: 5/10 Umaga vs Jeff Hardy - Arguably the best match on the show here, and it started off looking like it would be another average squash match from RAW. Umaga did some nice offense on Hardy early on, and Hardy sold it very convincingly. Then Hardy began to come back with some innovative moves and the fans came alive for about the first time during the show, which shows how over Hardy is, and why he deserves this push. And then WWE missed the boat with the booking and had Umaga kick out of the Swanton and beat Hardy with the Samoan Spike, and the crowd died again for the rest of the pay-per-view....the one thing WWE gave them to care about they suddenly had no reason to care about. Thank God Jeff will get his rematch, and presumably the title, at Summerslam. It's matches like this which may rebuild the prestige of RAW's 2nd tier singles belt. I think it would have made more sense here to have Hardy dodge the spike and hit the twist of fate for the win, but I enjoyed the existing false-finishes nonetheless. Match Rating: 9/10 The Texas Bullrope Match - Firstly, I would love to know who's idea it was to end a bullrope match via a pinfall and submission, and not the conventional method. It seemed fitting that the inventor of the Great American Bash should get to wrestle the 22nd anniversary of his creation, but I do have to wonder who's idea it was to use The Least electrifying man in sports-entertainment Randy Orton here. Either way, the bionic elbow spots were cool, the psychology during the match was excellent, especially the spot where he used the elbow instead of the cowbell. I thought the match accomplished everything it should have done, kept Orton's push going, even though he still can't get over with the fans, and built Cody's WWE career a little by casting apprehension in the mind of the legend killer. Quite why Orton would back down from a man he pinned convincingly 2 weeks earlier I will never know, but hey, this is WWE. Match Rating: 6/10 Triple-Threat World Title Match - There's very little to say about this match other than the fact that it really, really was painful to watch. I still feel the best way to handle a stiff like Singh is to let the babyfaces bump their rear-ends off around him to get him over and try and save the match. The spot where he was slammed through the table by the babyfaces was cool, and the Batista vs Kane segments of the match were relatively good, although the rest of the contest sucked. It had the potential to be average in places, but overall, if you haven't seen this one, save yourself 11 minutes of your life and don't bother. And I can only pray WWE do the right thing and put the World Title back on Batista at Summerslam. Match Rating: 2/10 WWE Championship Match - Wow, a decent main event on a WWE Pay-per-view for the first time since April 1st. I really enjoyed the build-up to this match, breaking from the usual kayfabe wrestling angles and developing a real "big-fight feel" to the contest with training vignettes and interviews was a fresh and realistic way of booking a pay-per-view main event, and WWE Creative deserve real credit for being so astute in their handling of this WWE Championship Match. The build really helped me get into this match, and the contest certainly did not dissapoint. It turned into an interesting match because for once it was actually believable that Cena may lose his title, and I didn't know the finish to the match as soon as it was made 3 weeks earlier on RAW as normal. In the end, Cena and Lashley worked a hell of a wrestling match, which should have been given double the mere quarter-hour timeslot it recieved. The series of potential finishes and big spots at the end were well booked and executed very well. The timing was spot on for all the match, the moves were sold adequately, and everything looked clean and consice from a technical point of view. The kick-outs from the FU and STFU kept the crowd alive, and the Spear spot where Cena kicked out was an exquisitely booked peice of wrestling. Overall, it was good to see Cena retain as he has improved so much and is still entertaining the fans and good for the product. It was also reassuring to see Lashley put back over and made to look strong with the handshake at the end and the beatdown of Carlito on RAW Match Rating: 9/10 Overall Pay-per-view Rating: 55/90 (61%) - Except the last four minutes of the main event, the two Hardy matches and a Dusty promo, everything else on this card was more than missable. Like many WWE ppvs this year, much of this card will be forgotten very quickly, and whilst a definite improvement on the last few Bashes, is not worth the price WWE charged for it. Overall, this pay-per-view was an average show which would have been considered good if it was an episode of RAW. If you didn't order this one, save yourself the money and buy ROH Respect is Earned, It's one purchase you won't regret making. Curious Questions: How much of that water did Candice pour over herself, and how much did she pour on the floor? Wasn't it great when Tazz got his reference in about nobody wanting to hear color commentators putting themselves over? What did JBL think about this? Is the Bash the only show to have the same entrance set four years in a row? And is Muhammad Hassan still under there? Why does Jim Ross feel the need to oversell everything? Did we really need TWO Commercials for Triple H's return during a show when anybody who orders WWE ppv knows he's returning? Why would a company under investigation for drug use choose "Church of Hot Addiction" as a theme song anyway? What was the point of having Rey on the poster and not at the show? Wow, does John Morrison still look the same as Johnny Nitro or what? If Morrison keeps beating CM Punk, then where is the World title division going? Why do all Triple-Threat matches end with one guy on the outside while two do the finish? Will MVP's opponents ever learn how to take the playmaker? Wasn't Dusty Rhodes' promo one of the saving moments of this show as always? Why would King Booker come out and ask Lawler to come to him, and then leave rather than going to Lawler? Boy, does Queen Sharmell sound ever more infuriating by the day? If you spent 40 bucks on this show, do you feel you got your moneys worth? |
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8:36 AM Jul 11