Weekly Rundown: 2nd – 6th March 2009
Raw 02/03/2009
ECW 03/03/2009
Smackdown 06/03/2009
The Raw Review - 02/03/2009
Before the show began properly the video of the Orton/Triple H situation and how it had come about played yet again, this time with last week’s action tacked onto the end of it. Looks like we’re in for a good show!
Opening Segment
Big Main Event and Jericho Antics
The show kicked off this week with Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler announcing on behalf of Vikki Guererro that tonight on Raw there will be a World Heavyweight Championship match between John Cena and Edge. King made out like it was the biggest match to ever take place on Raw, in my opinion it’s nowhere near, and I doubt come the end of the show, it will have all been as black and white as it seems.
After this short announcement the set of Pipers Pit is shown at the top of the ramp and Piper’s music played. Jillian announced the host of Pipers pit…as Chris Jericho, after showing a clip of the Piper/Snuka meeting on the segment years ago he then introduced Snuka as his guest. Surely this can’t end well, given Jericho’s track record against legends and hall of famers.
After a few clips of Snuka’s best moments, Jericho began his usual ‘washed up sell out’ piece that he’s been re-hashing for the past few weeks, before throwing various items of fruit at his guest just as Piper had in the clip.
Snuka seemed to have turned the tables on Jericho, threatening to hit him with a coconut and sending him fleeing to the back, but then Jericho pushed the set on top of Superfly and began attacking him with a belt (and a banana).
Surely Sim Snuka will get involved in this now. If not, it certainly poses the question ‘why not?’
Match 1
Rey Mysterio Vs. Mike Knox Vs. Kane in a Money in the Bank Qualification Match
First to a pinfall qualifies in this match, and I’m fully expecting Rey to win it, although I expected these three guys and Evan Bourne would be in a 2 on 2 match come Mania.
Rey would be the best person for the MITB match, although it upsets me slightly that his entry would come at the cost of another victory over Kane or Knox, two guys who really shouldn’t be jobbing to him so often.
A pretty good match actually, made all the sweeter by everything I just said being totally wrong and Kane getting the victory over Mike Knox. It would have been better if he’d got the win over Rey, but he gave him a chokeslam after the match for good measure.
Kane wins by Pinfall and qualifies for Money in the Bank.
Segment 2
HBK Interview
Todd Grisham asked Shawn how he expects to beat Kozlov. He replies by saying that although he’s had the worst year of his life, he’s overcome every adversity just like he always has in his life. He tells Kozlov that tonight he plans on ending his undefeated streak, then doing the same to The Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
Match 2
Mickey James & Kelly Kelly Vs. Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall (w/Rosa Mendes and Santino Marella)
Melina and Maryse joined the commentary team and pretty much bitched and sniped at each other the whole way through this match.
In the ring Kelly Kelly picked up a pretty quick victory with a sunset flip off the top rope, angering Rosa Mendez who made a bee-line for her after the match and things broke down into a brawl.
When Melina made her way to the ring to even the odds Maryse took advantage of the distraction and hit a vicious DDT on the outside. Looks like a Diva’s Champion Vs. Women’s Champion match at Mania, if not before.
Kelly Kelly & Mickey James win by Pinfall.
Segment 3
Orton chooses his title
After yet another airing of the Orton/Triple H build-up the 2009 Royal Rumble winner made his way out to the ring flanked by Priceless and a selection of doctors, lawyers and security.
Orton announces that he will challenge the winner of tonight’s World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania. He then explained how he is pressing charges against Triple H on the grounds of assault with a deadly weapon, before calling him out to ‘face the music’.
Triple H appears holding a sledgehammer which he then throws on the floor before entering the ring. He tells Orton that he NEEDS to face Triple H at WrestleMania to avenge the defining moment in his career; when Evolution turned on him and robbed him of the championship.
After some more goading and name calling, Orton eventually changed his mind and said he would face Triple H at WrestleMania, but until then The Game can’t lay a finger on him unless physically provoked.
Then it was Orton’s turn to intimidate, describing to Triple H exactly how good it felt taking out the members of the McMahon family. Triple H concluded the segment by saying last time the two met he broke Orton’s collarbone and that was just business, this time it will be personal and he will break his neck.
Match 3
Shawn Michaels Vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Hard one to call with the WWE being so protective over Kozlov’s ‘undefeated’ streak. I can understand their reservations about having him beaten, as other than being undefeated there isn’t anything remotely interesting about him, but it is for exactly that reason I can’t see him winning this match.
Kozlov squashed HBK for the majority of this match before Shawn pulled his finishing sequence out of the bag, putting the Moscow Mauler down for his first singles victory and seemingly becoming The Undertaker’s opponent at WrestleMania XXV.
After the match The Undertaker made a rare Raw appearance although he may as well have not bothered. He did the cut-throat hand action while flames blazed around him and that was about it.
Shawn Michaels wins by Pinfall.
Segment 4
Hall of Fame inductee number 4 and Edge interview
After some clips of Cena’s new movie (which looks pretty average) Cowboy Bill Watts was announced as the next Hall of Fame inductee. Not someone I’m particularly familiar with, but expect a Hall of Fame article on him at some point in the near future.
Todd Grisham asks Edge if he is taking advantage of the fact Cena was knocked out by The Big Show on Smackdown, by giving him his re-match tonight. Rather than giving the obvious answer, which is yes, he made some excuse about always wanting to face Cena in his hometown of Boston, so his family could watch him lose.
Main Event Match
Edge (c) Vs. John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship
Having not expected this match, and personally not wanting the title to change hands, it was a little hard to get excited about this one but in truth it was a well wrestled match and the crowd seemed to love it.
Unlike most of Edge and Cena’s recent matches this one was much more evenly contested, with the momentum swinging between the two pretty much the whole way through the bout.
After failing to hit the Attitude Adjustment (F-U) for the second time in the match, Edge reversed and locked in a Sharp-Shooter, only for Cena to get to the ropes. Seconds later the process was repeated when Cena reversed a Spear into a STF(U) and Edge this time broke the hold by making it to the ropes.
After hitting a Spear and failing to pick up the pinfall Edge grabbed the title belt from the outside of the ring and clocked Cena with it, losing the match but retaining the title.
After the match Edge crawled to the top of the ramp, only to be greeted by The Big Show and Vikki Guererro who announced that it would be Show Vs. Edge at WrestleMania XXV. Cena and Edge both looked shocked as Vikki and Show left through the curtain together.
John Cena wins by Disqualification, therefore Edge retains the World Heavyweight Championship.
The ECW Digest – 03/03/2009
Opening Match
Kane Vs. The Boogeyman
Despite this match being a blatant publicity stunt to hype the first showing of See No Evil on Sci-Fi, it’s actually two guys I’ve wanted to see in the ring together for a while. I’d rather them be in some sort of bizarre faction or tag team, but this is the next best thing.
Unfortunately it lasted less than 5 minutes. What there was of the match was good, but I’d have liked to have seen more of it. They actually put on a really good match for what there was of it, shame it is more than likely a one off.
Kane won the match with a Chokeslam after refusing Boogey’s peace offering of some worms at the start of the bout.
Kane wins by Pinfall.
Match 2
Santino Marella (w/Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes) Vs. Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) in a Money in the Bank qualifying Match
Before the match Santino sufficiently provoked Henry by saying that although he may be the World’s Strongest Man, he doesn’t have a physique that the ladies love like Marella does.
In a match even shorter than the first one, Henry squashed Santino with a World’s Strongest Slam and became the third man in the Money in the Bank match.
Personally I think Henry is an awful choice for a ladder match, as he possesses no speed and very little agility, not to mention the fact that Kane is already involved and bringing the monstrous power angle.
So far the ECW writers are making my job easy for me, two incredibly short matches with very little to report on.
Mark Henry wins by Pinfall and qualifies for Money in the Bank.
Segment 1
The Dirty Awards
In what is claimed to be a ‘WWE.Com Exclusive’ (although if it is being shown on ECW I’m not sure how it is an online exclusive anymore) The Miz & John Morrison announce the nominations and winners for their ‘Dirty’ awards. They were as follows:
Biggest Virgin
Nominee’s:
Evan Bourne
DJ Gabriel
Festus
Winner: Evan Bourne
Best Original Musical Performance
Nominee’s:
The Miz and Morrison – Mizfits and Mo-fo’s
R-Truth – What’s Up?
The Colons – Doin the Butt
Winner: Miz and Morrison – Mizfits and Mo-fo’s
Best Internet Video
Nominee’s:
The Dirt Sheet
Word Up
Santino’s Casa
Winner: The Dirt Sheet
All in all, shameless self-promotion and blatant sniping at their rivals. Probably the most entertaining thing I’ve seen from The Miz and Morrison outside of the ring, but that isn’t saying much.
Match 3
Natalya (w/Tyson Kidd) Vs. Alicia Fox (w/DJ Gabriel)
Natalya is a real talent and I’m surprised she’s been placed on ECW when she could easily be in the hunt for either one of the female championships. For the record Fox looked pretty good too, but Natalya didn’t take long before she locked in the Sharp-Shooter and picked up the win.
After the match Tyson Kidd chose to attack DJ Gabriel who was checking on his fallen partner. This turned out to be a mistake on Kidd’s part, as Gabriel turned the tables and dropped him over the top rope before European upper-cutting him off the apron. Looks like a good feud in the making.
Natalya wins by Submission.
Main Event Match
Finlay, Christian & Tommy Dreamer Vs. Jack Swagger, The Miz & John Morrison
Plenty of star power in this one, at least as far as ECW goes.
Going into the first commercial break Hornswoggle gets a hero-like response from the crowd, after diving through the ropes and taking out The Miz & Morrison while the referee’s back was turned. Hopefully by the end of the bout he hasn’t turned into the villain of the piece by costing Finlay’s team the win.
This match had all the usual back and forth action we’ve come to expect from 6 man tag matches, with all the guys turning in a pretty respectable performances, particularly Tommy Dreamer and Christian. Not too happy that Christian now seems to use the diving headbutt as a trademark, as I’ve never seen much value in that move.
Towards the end of the match things broke down and Jack Swagger took advantage. Making a blind tag before Christian delivered the Kill-Switch (or Unprettier for our older fans) to Morrison, Swagger hit the Gut-Wrench Powerbomb and picked up the win for his team.
Very good match with a well worked ending. if I did star ratings I’d have to give it a 4.
Jack Swagger, The Miz & John Morrison win by Pinfall.
The Smackdown Summary - 06/03/2009
A video showing the Cena Vs. Edge Championship match from Raw and the subsequent announcement of The Big Show as No. 1 contender played before the show kicked off this week.
Opening Segment
The Undertaker cuts a rare promo
After his pretty much pointless appearance on Raw after the HBK Vs. Kozlov match, The Undertaker kicked off Smackdown tonight with a very rare live promo, and after seeing it I can’t work out why he doesn’t do more of them.
He spoke about how in years previous other superstar’s have done all they could to avoid facing him, how he was the one that always had to seek out competition and how it angers him now that things have changed.
He explains that the streak is something he doesn’t talk about and it just so happens that WrestleMania is the night he chooses to show all his peers and the world what The Undertaker represents, but there seems to be souls that attempt to make a name for themselves at his expense, which he takes as a personal insult.
He then accepted Shawn Michaels’ challenge and a video of HBK’s various appearances at Mania played. Back in the ring The Undertaker told HBK he had chosen the wrong person to play mind games with and as accomplished as Shawn is, for 16 WrestleMania’s challengers have come and for 16 WrestleMania’s they have fallen, and things with Shawn will be no different.
He wrapped up the segment rather nicely by linking back to the advice he gave to The Heartbreak Kid at The Royal Rumble, saying he will show him that sometimes it is hell, trying to get to heaven.
Segment 2
The Hardys
After speaking on the phone about not seeing someone (who I assume is Edge) since Raw, Vikki called Jeff into her office to talk about his Money in the Bank qualifying match. She attempted to talk him into facing Matt, but he refused. He then informed her he planned to win the MITB match and cash it in after the match between The Big Show and Edge at WrestleMania.
This is probably the best the fans could have asked for, as I think the match at Mania would benefit by having both men in it, or neither (by that I mean having them in a match against each other instead).
On a side note, I know I’m often quite derogatory towards Jeff’s promo delivery, but if anyone wants to know why they should try to see this little segment, because it’s a prime example of how bad he can actually be.
Afterwards Matt made his way to the ring for his qualifying match and said that he would see his brother in the MITB match, which he plans on winning.
Match 1
Matt Hardy Vs. M.V.P in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
A pretty good match all in all, although nothing we haven’t already seen when these two had a great rivalry for the U.S Championship a while back. The big difference was the reversal of roles between the two men, with M.V.P now playing the crowd favourite and Matt Hardy playing a very convincing heel role.
M.V.P surprisingly picked up the win by countering a Twist of Fate into a roll-up for the 3 count. I doubt this is the last time we will see Matt tonight.
MVP wins by Pinfall and qualifies for Money in the Bank.
After the match a short video of The Miz & Morrison pretending to be Carlito & Primo Colon played, the message being that the two teams will meet next week for Miz & Morrison’s World Tag Titles.
Match 2
Maryse Vs. Eve Torres
Michelle McCool joined the commentary team for this one, focusing her attention on the Diva’s champion, claiming she only beat her for the title because Maria was the referee.
Despite seemingly possessing quite a bit of wrestling ability Eve played the role of rookie in this one, making fundamental mistakes which eventually cost her the match when she attempted a cross body from the second rope. Maryse took advantage and hit a massive DDT to get the win.
Immediately after the match Melina sprinted to the ring and beat down Maryse, before Michelle McCool picked her moment and took out Melina leaving her as the last woman standing.
Maryse wins by Pinfall.
Segment 3
Contract Signing
After the commercials Vikki Guererro begins the contract signing segment but before she can finish her introduction a rather miffed Edge makes his way to the ring to interrupt her.
Edge says he isn’t going to sign anything until he knows what the deal is between her and The Big Show, to which she replies that the only thing between them is a business relationship.
Edge questions why The Big Show so special when she could have picked anyone else, which draws the giant out from the back and to the ring. He says it’s time Edge knew the truth, and the truth is that Edge simply isn’t a good champ. Show then says Vikki knows he will make a much more dominant champion and this is why he is the No.1 contender, before signing the contract.
Edge then babbles on about being better than The Big Show in every department but just as he is about to sign the contract and make the match official John Cena appears on the scene and attacks both men, hitting Show with the title belt and Edge with the table.
Cena then whispered something into Vikki’s ear before leaving to the cheers and adulation of the fickle Smackdown fans.
After a replay of Cowboy Bill Watts Hall of Fame video Edge and Vikki discuss the ambush attack by Cena, where we find out the contract signing will now take place on Raw, oh joy. I’d probably put my house on that match becoming a triple threat come Monday night.
Match 3
Jeff Hardy Vs. Shelton Benjamin in a Money in the Bank Qualification Match
I’m doubtful that Jeff will qualify now that his brother hasn’t, but we will have to see what happens here. Shelton Benjamin also seems to be a staple in the MITB match, and the Intercontinental Champion is already in there so it would be interesting if the U.S Champion also made it in.
This was actually quite a good match, mainly due to Jeff’s unique offence outside the ring and Shelton’s very precise work inside of it.
As predicted Matt made his way out to ringside and actually into the ring after Jeff hit a Twist of Fate. Rather than attack Jeff, he purposefully hit Shelton in order to get his brother disqualified. Jeff still didn’t take the bait although surely it only has to be a matter of time before he does and the two are confirmed as opponents for WrestleMania.
Shelton Benjamin wins by Disqualification and qualifies for Money in the Bank.
Main Event Match
Triple H Vs. Umaga
As much as I like Umaga’s character, I’m not sure what he’s done to gain main event status quite yet. When he debuted a few years back he went on a 34 match un-pinned streak including victories over great wrestlers such as Ric Flair and Kane before finally being moved to main event status and losing to John Cena twice. Since returning to Smackdown he’s destroyed a handful of jobbers and now all of a sudden is main eventing a show against the World Champion.
It soon became apparent that Umaga’s presence in this one was pretty insignificant, when the real story emerged in the form of Legacy, who appeared through the crowd and jumped the champion. Despite the numbers getting the better of him numerous times, Triple H refused to back down and continued to make a bee-line for Orton at every possible opportunity.
Eventually the 3 on 1 situation became too much and in a scene reminiscent of Orton’s eviction from Evolution in 2004 DiBiase and Rhodes held the fallen champ while Orton shouted in his face and then kicked him repeatedly.
As the show went off the air Triple H crawled to the ropes and stared at Orton who was now leaning into the ring from the outside, sporting a huge sadistic grin.
The match never had any sort of conclusion, although I assume Triple H won either by disqualification or count out.
Triple H wins by Disqualification or Count Out.
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