2011 Pro Wrestling Thread

AWESOME! They did it again!

 

Great line by Booker: "The show's over!"

And a "holy shit" chant. Haven't heard that in the WWE in a long time.

 

And even before that, for a big-man match, this was very good.

 

Big Show with a very un-PG-like "Awww shit!"

 

I don't know about the beginning of the show, but the middle and end was excellent. Fine job by ADR and Cena.

 

That suplex was freaking awesome. Crowd went nuts.

 

Just got back from the show.

A buddy of mine and I were making fun of the Mark Henry/Big Show match and, about three minutes in, I made an off-hand remark and said that I wouldn't be surprised if Henry suplexs Big Show and the ring comes crashing down. His response? "They wouldn't do that. They've still got Cena-Del Rio".

Needless to say, I marked out when it actually happened.

Overall, not the best show but not the worst. I liked that they kept the belt on Del Rio, even if it wasn't clean. So I'm guessing this sets up Rock, Cena, HHH and Punk vs. Miz, Truth, Nash and ? with the GM title on the line at Survivor Series.

Going to be interesting to see where things go from here. You know what's not interesting though? Cena's new shirt.

I don't mind the black and I don't mind the "Rise Above Hate" tagline because, well, it kind of fits Cena, one of the most polarizing characters in WWE history. But the red, white and blue? Really?

For fuck sake, WWE, just come out and say it already. We get it. Cena is a super, duper good guy. Why not just put a giant 'S' on his next shirt and get it over with? Hell, while you're at it, add Eminem's line on the back ("I can be your Superman!")

 

Air Boom vs Swaggler - Enjoyed this. Good opener, some good tag team moves and Air Boom continue to show good chemistry in the ring. Ziggler and Swagger work as a team too, but I can't see it lasting long due to their egos and stuff. The crowd seemed into this but seemed to fade away later in the show, particularly in the middle. Air Boom retained as expected in a good opening match.

Ziggler vs Ryder - Reasonably short, but pretty entertaining underdog story. I actually expected Ryder to take this, as I assumed that was why they booked Ziggler in 2 matches, but I guess they wanted to make Ziggler look strong. Expecting him to main event soon-ish and rightly so. Finish was good and didn't hurt Ryder despite the fact he was facing a guy who'd already wrestled. Would like a rematch with more time.

Beth vs Eve - Anybody who thinks Kelly is better than Eve should watch this match. This was 10x more tolerable than any match of Kelly's entire career. Nothing special of course, but more than decent by diva standards, and the fans actually reacted really well to the Eve nearfall when she countered the Glam Slam. Hopefully no more cringeworthy Kelly for a while, glad Beth retained but she always would.

Christian vs Sheamus - Their match at Hell in a Cell was very good and this was too. The only thing that hut it was that the fans seemed pretty dead, which was disappointing. They tried hard to get some reactions though, and they continue to prove they have good chemistry together, and are two of the best wrestlers in WWE. I love their contrasting styles. Some very good near falls and counters, and a good finish with Sheamus brogue kicking Christian when he was going for a spear (after the opposite had happened). Good match.

HHH and CM Punk vs The Awesome Truth - Did anybody else think HHH looked pretty out of shape here? Maybe HD does him no favours, but he looked pretty fat to me, and I don't remember thinking that when he faced Punk at NoC. Anyway, onto the more important matter of the match - it was pretty decent, but nothing special. If there was a disappointment on the show I guess it was this, but I didn't really see it that way. Decent match but I was mainly waiting for the finish, and Nash appeared as suspected. Finish kept Punk looking reasonably strong. I suppose the criticism will be that it all seems to be about Nash and HHH now, with Punk an afterthought, but I'd like to wait and see where the angle goes before saying that. It's clear they view him as a star. I guess he'll be going for the title next which is good, so no complaints if that happens.

Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes - Was looking forward to this match and I enjoyed it. Again the quiet crowd was a bit of an issue but they got more into it towards the end with Orton's comeback routine etc. Cody is pretty good at getting the fans to react to things too. Orton's pretty undersold by some people because I think he's absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the company and his face run has been excellent. Kind of expected him to win and I'm fine with it because it was such a competitive match which made Cody look good, but there should be a rematch. Was cool seeing Cody bust out the moonsault from the top.

Mark Henry vs The Big Show - This was awesome. I really liked their first match and this was a lot more fun I thought, even before the crazy finish. I've always founded matches like this enjoyable, with two behemoths punching each other, hitting slams etc, and Show's charisma and facial expressions helped the match. The finishing stretch with the nearfalls was great, especially Henry kicking out of the top rope chokeslam. I definitely bought into that as the finish. Superplex/imploding ring spot was crazy. I know it's been done before but not for ages, and never with a match to follow. Thought it was quite unique in that sense and was definitely a major "holy ****" moment. Interested to see whether Show gets another shot or they use this as a way for Henry to move onto something else (Sheamus) without hurting Show's aura, as Henry did with Sheamus before he won the belt. Hugely enjoyable this one.

Alberto Del Rio vs John Cena - Interesting and unique situation with the ring being destroyed. I assumed they'd do the match but as it was Last Man Standing, fight pretty much exclusively on the outside, but instead they did tons of stuff in the broken ring, which was original. Good match originally, then inevitably broke down as they spilled to the outside and weapons came into play. Del Rio actually took two pretty fn crazy bumps in this match. The first, hurling himself into the barricade from in the ring, looked pretty sore, as did the later table spot from the set. This was everything that is good about John Cena no DQ brawls. I think at this stage Cena is almost like Foley or prime HHH in that if he's in a big stip match it's more or less guaranteed to be good. Different style to those guys of course, but I find these types of matches so fun to watch. When he hit the AA through the commentators table I bought into it as the finish, and was relieved to see Awesome Truth since Del Rio basically had to retain here. Good finish with the ambush not proving enough to keep Cena down, only for Del Rio to hit him in the face with the title and get the 10 count. People will probs disagree but I thought this was legit great, like a fair few other Cena matches this year (or at least the 2 Punk ones, I really liked the Miz I Quit too though).

Overall: Quality PPV and one of the best of the year. Below MITB of course, but probably as good as any of the others I'd say. It was just good until the last 2 matches, which were both hugely entertaining and pretty damn unique. Great stuff.

 

Triple H should complain about the safety of his work environment.

 

I love the world of professional wrestling. A 7-foot madman armed with a sledgehammer assaults someone not once, but twice -- the second time as he's receiving medical attention -- and he's not arrested. He's not tazed, not even pepper sprayed. He's given a stern warning and told not to do it again, dadgummit!
Shouldn't the cops be gunning this guy down!?

 

That was really fucked up. Triple H was having trouble breathing. It looked like blood was coming out of his mouth.

 

Trips "diagnosed" with a "broken neck" ...