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The Dames' Diatribe on WWE SummerSlam 2003

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Guest TSMAdmin

The Dames’ Diatribe on WWE SummerSlam 2003

 

 

Tonight is WWE’s SummerSlam pay per view, which is traditionally considered to be the 2nd biggest show of the year behind Wrestlemania. This should mean that WWE will put on matches that rival Wrestlemania in terms of quality as matches such as Shawn/Razor ’95, the Bret/Owen Cage match from ’94 and TLC 2 spring to mind. However, from time to time, we get some true WrestleCrap feasts such as Undertaker vs. Undertaker ’94 and Diesel vs. Mabel ’95, so THE SUMMERSLAM~! (As Bret Hart used to call it) tends to be a mixed bag.

 

Tonight’s show will be headlined by a Wrestlemania rematch in Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar and the second time we will see the Elimination Chamber in use. After spending a ton of money on the structure that resembles a bird cage, did you really think that we’d never see it again? Personally, I figured it would be a Survivor Series tradition, but the matches on the Raw side were looking so weak, they simply combined three of them and decided that the whole would be better than the sum of its parts.

 

Due to an unforeseen circumstance, I wasn’t home for the initial showing of SummerSlam and caught the replay, so I wasn’t able to catch the Bonus Heat Match, if there was any. So with that being said…

 

Let’s hit the recap.

 

The show starts off with Lillian Garcia singing the national anthem before our usual video montage, focused on the Elimination Chamber match for the most part. The voice over is done by what sounds to be an Irish priest. Interesting concept.

 

We get intros for both sets of announcers, plus the Spanish announcers before the pyro hits for the first match.

 

The Dudley Boyz vs. La Resistance for the World Tag Team Titles

 

Match Background: These two teams are feuding for the Raw Tag Titles, quite frankly, because they’re the only real two teams left on Raw. However, they can’t just say that, so WWE have written a poor storyline in which the babyfaces (The Dudleys) are openly being biased towards the heels’ nationality (Le Res), with Bubba in particular saying “We hate the French”. If you were a member of Le Resistance, wouldn’t you be upset as well?

 

This started about a month ago when La Resistance were in the middle of the ring, smugly singing the French National Anthem when the Dudley Boyz came down the aisle, removed them from the ring and sang the U.S.’ National Anthem. Three weeks ago, during a match between Bubba Ray Dudley and Rene Dupree, Dupree was hit in the head with a flag by D’Von, busting him open and giving his half brother the victory. This enraged the Tag Champs, who took them on the following week in a tag match, but were more interested in bringing the pain as they beat the Dudleys with flags instead, getting disqualified. They continued the beatdown, broke the American flag, draped it over the Dudleys and then pranced around while drinking French wine. This past week on Raw, Le Res tried to provoke a man dressed in U.S. Military garb when the Dudley’s made the save. They invited the man into the ring (who is OVW’s Rob Conway), who then promptly turned on them, leading to a three on two beat down in the ring with Le Res. Tonight, the Dudley’s finally square off against Le Resistance for the Raw Tag Titles.

 

The Match: The Duds attack as Le Res walk down the aisle, prompting a “USA” chant by the crowd. They end up in the ring with D’Von taking on 19 year old Rene Dupree. The fact that I’m 4 years older than that guy completely boggles my mind. D’Von uses Dupree’s own coat to choke him with it as he tries to remove his entrance attire, while Jim Ross puts over the Dudleys as a tag team. D’Von ends up in the heels’ corner and Grenier is tagged in. D’Von is able to recover with a shoulder block and connects with a legdrop for the first pinfall attempt of the night. Bubba is tagged in and begins to smack Grenier around, literally, with a HARSH chop to the chest. Bubba then puts Grenier in the Tree of Woe, standing on his crotch before smacking Grenier with another painful sounding chop square in the middle of the mans chest. Bubba tosses Dupree into the corner with Grenier and avalanches both of them before tossing them out of the ring to a big pop.

 

Dupree comes in now and eats a Bubba chop, who is rivaling Benoit and Big Show for the “pop” his chops make tonight. Grenier connects with a cheap shot on Bubba as he comes off of the ropes for Dupree to finally take the advantage in the match. A double shoulder block puts Bubba down and Grenier comes into the match and gets a two count as well. They start to work on Bubba’s ribs as Dupree hooks on a bear hug after a hard irish whip, but Bubba fights out of it, only to fall victim to a spinebuster for a broken up two count. Grenier comes in to face Bubba now, but eats a Bubba Bomb, giving him the opportunity to tag in D’Von who is a HOUSE…EN…FUEGO~! D’Von gets a nearfall on Dupree and tries to follow it up, but gets held on the ropes by Grenier. Dupree charges at him, only for D’Von to move out of the way, having the men collide with each other and D’Von gets a roll up for a close broken up two count. They knock Bubba off of the apron and then connect with their double team finish (La Crepe?) and D’Von kicks out! They pick up D’Von again, but he fights back and Bubba comes charging in with a double clothesline. They set up Grenier for the WASSUP headbutt, which they hit…and then Bubba signals for D’Von to get the tables. D’Von doesn’t even get the chance to respond as Dupree comes out charging, only to receive a 3D! ONE…TWO…NO! Grenier pulls the ref out of the ring and while he’s distracted, a man disguised as a cameraman comes in, nails D’Von from behind with the camera and places Dupree on top for the pinfall.

 

Winners: La Resistance

 

After the match up, the cameraman is revealed to be the same man that helped Le Res last Monday, the still unnamed Rob Conway. Spike Dudley comes running down, only to get nailed by Conway with the camera and all three Dudleys are left laying. Oh come on…can’t you smell a 6 man tag for Raw?

 

After the match, Coach catches up with the Dudley Boyz for some post-match comments. Coach says that Le Res didn’t win the right way, but they were clever tonight, to which Bubba takes offense to. Bubba basically says that they won’t stop until they get their tag titles and they’ll do whatever it takes.

 

My Opinion: This was a traditional tag match with nothing special in it whatsoever, although D’Von did kick out of their finisher. The finish to this match just lets us know that this feud isn’t over, most likely because Le Res doesn’t have another team to move on to. *3/4

 

In the back, Eric Bischoff is training for his fight with Shane McMahon later on in the show when Christian comes up and introduces himself as “Christian, Intercontinental Champion”. Bischoff tells him that he already knows who he is…so Christian wants to know why he doesn’t have a match, seeing as how he holds the second most important title on Raw. Bischoff blames it on Stone Cold, which Christian believes immediately…and then offers his services for his match against Shane tonight. Bischoff tells him that he’s already got a plan in place. Christian then asks him what really happened with Linda McMahon last week, so Bischoff says that he’ll tell everyone in a few moments.

 

While it might have been a throwaway segment, it does raise a very good point and I’m glad that WWE actually somewhat acknowledged it. Christian doesn’t have a match on the card…yet Eric Bischoff vs. Shane McMahon is a heavily hyped match for SummerSlam?

 

We go to Tazz and Cole for the following match…

 

The Undertaker vs. A-Train

 

Match Background: Last month, A-Train was paid by Vince McMahon to get involved in the Sable/Stephanie McMahon match up, which he did. The Undertaker made some negative comments about this on Smackdown to the boss, which he didn’t care for, so McMahon sent A-Train to interfere in ‘Taker’s match with John Cena. For those of you who believe that Cena got a clean pin on the Undertaker because Train’s interference didn’t directly and immediately lead to the pinfall, the announcers blatantly say that A-Train cost him the match. A-Train then targeted ‘Taker’s bad ribs a couple of weeks ago, before taking out Stephanie McMahon at the request of her father. Tonight, ‘Taker goes one on one with the “hired thug”, A-Train.

 

The Match: During A-Train’s intro, Sable comes down to the ring with him. On Smackdown, she had been impressed with his actions in the past few weeks and gave him a key to her hotel room. The announcers basically call it one of the perks of working for Vince McMahon, so apparently Sable is being pimped out by the boss of the company. Hey, I don’t write it.

 

The big men lock up in the middle of the ring, but Train backs up ‘Taker into the corner and looks to go for the ribs. ‘Taker gets out of the corner quickly, without getting hurt and locks up with Train again. After an irish whip, Train gets a hand around the Undertaker’s throat, but ‘Taker fights back and connects with a side Russian leg sweep! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that out of the Undertaker.

 

The announcers sell the fact that ‘Taker has taped ribs, although we can’t tell at all if you judge ‘Taker’s selling. ‘Taker gets a DDT on Train who has his head down and gets a second two count in the match before going for the arm. ‘Taker comes flying off the ropes with a clothesline before going for the arm again and then hits Old School to knock down Train. Train gets up and kicks ‘Taker in the ribs before tossing him to the outside. He then rams him into the steel post and follows them up with short punches to the midsection, working on the ribs.

 

Back in the ring, Train is in full control, working on the ribs, but it seems like ‘Taker (surprise, surprise) won’t sell the ribs much. He just looks fatigued. Train delivers a big time vertical suplex on ‘Taker for a two count, but ‘Taker fights back and puts on a sleeper. It doesn’t do much as A-Train quickly turns it into a belly to back suplex. ‘Taker gets up and starts delivering right hands before hitting Snake Eyes on Train. ‘Taker goes for a big boot, but misses and both men collide with a double clothesline. ‘Taker, on his knees, fights to get up as the match deteriorates into a slugfest in the middle. ‘Taker is able to get the big boot and a legdrop…but he’s not Hogan, so it doesn’t pin a thing.

 

‘Taker clotheslines Train in the corner a couple of times before setting him up for the Last Ride, but Train shoves ‘Taker into the ref and hits the Derailer. The ref goes for the cover….ONE…TWO…NO! Undertaker kicks out of the move, of course, so Train picks him up. Taker comes charging at him, but he ducks….and the ref is NAILED by a ‘Taker clothesline. Train hits the bicycle kick, but the ref is down, so he gets himself a steel chair and brings it into the ring. He goes to use it, but Taker turns around and nails him in the face with the chair. The ref crawls over…and Train kicks out at two!

 

‘Taker picks up Train, looking for the Tombstone, but Train floats over…only to get chokeslammed for the pinfall.

 

Winner: The Undertaker

 

After the match, ‘Taker looks to go for the Last Ride on Train, but is distracted by Sable, who tries seducing him. He doesn’t buy it and puts his hand around her throat. He’s not going to chokeslam her, just hold her as Stephanie McMahon makes her return and takes Sable down in the ring. She starts wailing on her until A-Train pulls her out of the ring. Stephanie applauds ‘Taker before leaving the ring.

 

My Opinion: Matches like these, I don’t know what to say sometimes. It was your typical big man brawl, but ‘Taker refused to sell the ribs like he did with Cena last month. If you had the mute button on, you wouldn’t even know that was Train’s intentions. The match wasn’t great, but at least Train kicked out of a believable pinfall attempt. That’s the least they can do for him, as nothing Train did was going to keep ‘Taker down. There was no real point of having Sable there as she just stood around and did nothing, so it merely was an excuse to put Stephanie on the show. *1/2

 

A random thought just popped into my head. How is it that Mick Foley as Mankind got more wins over the Undertaker (and was put over that way on WWE TV) on PPV, yet never received a Wrestlemania match with him? The winning streak really would have been in danger…

 

In the back, we see Chris Jericho stretching and preparing for the main event tonight. Meanwhile, Coach interviews two fans at ringside for some reason…and both pick Goldberg as the winner of the Elimination Chamber tonight.

 

We go to J.R. & the King as J.R. says that Shane McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff is the “most personal match up that I can remember in recent years here at SummerSlam”, despite only having about two weeks of build up. And then you wonder why no one takes J.R. seriously anymore.

 

Shane McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff

 

Match Background: After Kane Tombstoned Linda McMahon, Shane McMahon came after him for revenge the following week. The Co-GM of Raw, Eric Bischoff, told Shane McMahon that his father Vince gave him specific instructions to escort him out of the building, but Shane refused to leave. Stone Cold came down and told Shane that since he can’t face Kane, he’ll face Bischoff in a No Holds Barred match. The match ended when Kane came down to the ring and Tombstoned Shane on the steel steps, leaving him for Bischoff to get the easy win.

 

Bischoff, who was boasting about his win over Shane, was confronted by Jim Ross, who had been “burned” in a horrible segment on Raw a couple of weeks prior. J.R. had come back to declare that he was going to sue him for putting him in a dangerous working environment. Bischoff tried to make amends immediately, firing Ross’s replacement on commentary, Jonathan Coachman, but it wasn’t good enough for J.R. Stone Cold came down and had J.R. agree not to sue Bischoff if he signed a contract to face someone tonight. Thinking that it was Shane McMahon, Bischoff signed the contract, when it was in fact Kane. Bischoff was ready to lay down for Kane, but Kane simply walked away and allowed himself to be counted out, because that wasn’t what “they” (the fans) wanted and he didn’t want to please them anymore. Stone Cold then informed Bischoff that since he was the winner of the match, due to the fine print in the contract, he’s going to face Shane McMahon at SummerSlam. Here’s a logic gap for ya: If Kane vs. RVD had already been signed at that point, which it had, then if Kane had beaten Bischoff…it would have been Kane vs. Shane McMahon. What would have happened to RVD?

 

Anyway, it was now Eric vs. Shane and this past week on Raw, Eric confronted Shane’s mother Linda, the CEO of the company. He manhandled her and forced himself onto her, kissing her before everything faded to black. During the creepy segment, he said that Shane was handed WCW to him on a silver platter…a company that Bischoff created, so this was payback.

 

The Match: Bischoff comes to the ring first, in his karate gi, only to get on the microphone and insinuate that he had sex with Linda McMahon time and time again that night.

 

This brings out Shane McMahon, who has a serious demeanor on his face as he slowly makes his way to the ring…but if someone told me that they had sex with my mother forcefully multiple times…I’d be RUNNING down the aisle PISSED OFF.

 

Shane starts the match by charging at Bischoff with wild punches and elbows in the corner. He tosses Eric to the middle of the ring where he delivers some pathetic crossfaces before Bischoff tries to walk up the ramp and “escape”. Shane runs after him and clotheslines him from behind, forcing him to walk back to the ring with rabbit punches. Some STIFF hard kicks to the midsection by Shane-O-Mac are followed up on the outside as he tosses Bischoff into the ring and the guard rail several times. He stands Bischoff up, gives him the finger and proceeds to start a punch combination…but Bischoff falls two shots in.

 

At ringside now, Shane tosses Eric into the announce table. Shane taunts Bischoff to get up when he’s hit HARD in the back with a chair! The camera pans over to reveal…Jonathan Coachman to a chorus of boos!

 

Coach hits Shane again with another shot to the back and then grabs the bell away from the timekeeper. Bischoff then gets on the mic and declares the match to now be a no DQ match…and pinfalls count anywhere. Eric then drops the S Bomb as he tells Coach to “introduce that piece of shit to those stairs”.

 

Coach tosses him into the steps and Bischoff goes for the cover on the outside, but Shane kicks out. Shane tries to fight back, but Coach non-chalantly tosses him into the ring. Coach then holds Shane for Bischoff to attack, but before he does so, Bischoff (on the mic) demands that they cut off J.R. & The King’s microphone and for Coach to do the play by play himself.

 

Coach starts mocking J.R.’s “catchphrases” as Bischoff attacks Shane a couple more times with some weak looking kicks. Bischoff goes for “one more”, but Shane kicks him away and takes down Coach. He goes after Bischoff again, but Coach connects with a low blow. This brings out Stone Cold…who is confronted by Coach.

 

Coach tells SCSA that he doesn’t work for him, he works for Bischoff. He says that it’s “mind over matter. I don’t mind and you don’t matter.” After that little gem by Coach, he reminds Austin that he’s not allowed to strike him unless he’s physically provoked…and then smugly states that he’s not touching him. Shane shoves Coach from behind into Austin….and just like in Robocop, Prime Directive # 4 is no longer in effect and Austin goes berserk on Coach. Austin and Shane stomp the crap out of Coach in the corner, with Shane connecting with some HARD kicks before connecting with a double back elbow. They toss him out of the ring and Austin gets on the mic to demand J.R. & The King’s mic back on.

 

Austin tells him that he’s going to go…but Shane tells him to wait a moment. Shane picks up Bischoff’s body (who is limp for some reason at this point) and smacks Austin in the face with Bischoff’s hand. This lets Austin stun Bischoff…so Shane goes for the cover, but he pulls him up before the three count! He goes over to the Spanish Announce Table and places Bischoff on it. Shane climbs the top turnbuckle and goes flying onto Bischoff with an elbow through the table! He crawls over for the pinfall and the victory as the elbow is replayed.

 

Winner: Shane McMahon

 

After the match, Austin helps Shane up and they share a few beers in the ring.

 

My Opinion: Although the match was CRAPTASTIC, it was overbooked to hell in order to be semi-entertaining. I’m not a fan of announcer angles, but Coach’s turn makes sense as he was given a chance to announce Raw when Bischoff took out J.R. and was forced out by Austin…so naturally, he’d be aligned with Bischoff. He’s also a pretty large and in shape compared to the other announcers, so it’s more believable that a chair shot from Coach would hurt. Plus, there are no heel announcers anymore, so it’s nice to have one around again, even if he’s not particularly good. The Shane elbow is a spot that’s been replayed so many times in random clips to the point that it got a pop from the crowd, so I guess that’s a good thing. The actual match itself was mighty sloppy, but with the entertainment factor of it all, I’ll call it a wash. DUD.

 

We get a Wrestlemania Recall moment with Shawn Michaels defeating Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12 just to taunt me. The match was a draw, dammit…Bret should have retained!

 

In the back, Kevin Nash, looking more like Oz, is getting ready for the Chamber match.

 

In Evolution’s dressing room, Flair breaks down the plan to Randy Orton…who’s sole purpose is to make sure that Triple H wins. Orton wants to know “what if”, but Flair doesn’t want to hear it…and neither does Triple H. The way this segment is going, it seems to be setting up Orton trying to take the title for himself and leaving Trips alone.

 

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri vs. Rhyno for the WWE U.S. Title

 

Match Background: A couple of months ago, Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri were the Smackdown Tag Team Champs and during their loss to Haas & Benjamin, Tajiri was thrown onto Eddie’s low rider. After losing the titles in that match, Eddie took more exception to the fact that Tajiri was on his car, so he suplexed him onto the cars windshield, taking him out of action for a couple of weeks.

 

Guerrero was then in the finals of the US Title tournament against Chris Benoit at last month’s Vengeance PPV. Rhyno interfered in the match and actually cost his friend Benoit the title, turning on him. Tajiri returned to Smackdown a couple of weeks later, looking for revenge against Eddie. Benoit and Tajiri teamed up a couple of times to face Rhyno & Eddie, although this past week, things took a slight turn. As Benoit was going to make Rhyno tap out to the Crossface to give their team the victory, Eddie took the U.S. Title and nailed him in the head with it, causing a DQ. He then nailed his partner Rhyno, letting the world know that he was out only for himself. He then attacked Tajiri…why not, you know? So, tonight’s match is a 4 way Tornado style match with the man that gets the pinfall winning the U.S. Title.

 

The Match: Eddie comes to the ring with an UGLY lime green low rider this time out. As the other three men are in the ring awaiting the champion, Eddie realizes that all three are mad at him for his actions on Smackdown…so he’s a bit hesitant to come in immediately. He hands the referee the U.S. Title and bails out of the ring as all three men charge at him. They end up battling each other instead since they can’t get to Eddie and Tajiri is immediately thrown to the floor. Rhyno puts the boots to Benoit before knocking him down with a big clothesline, but Benoit NAILS Rhyno with a HARD chop to the chest. Benoit hooks on the Crossface, so Eddie comes running into the ring to end the hold. Tajiri comes in and Eddie gets out of dodge, so Tajiri nails Rhyno with a kick to the face and a knee drop for Benoit. Eddie comes back in to nail Tajiri and then runs away. Rhyno then takes over on Tajiri for a two count that is broken up by Eddie. Benoit is the first man to nail Eddie from behind as he plays the proverbial pinball for all three men for a moment. Tajiri goes for the cover, but Benoit breaks up the cover. Rhyno goes after Benoit again, but Eddie attacks from behind. Rhyno reverses an irish whip and connects with a big running shoulder block in the corner. Rhyno powerslams Eddie down, but Benoit breaks it up and snap suplexes his former tag partner. Tajiri gets in the way and eats a chop as well as a back suplex for two. Eddie comes in and tosses Rhyno out of the ring…and then suplexes Benoit over the top to the outside. Eddie pinpoints Tajiri and goes to work on him…but Tajiri comes back with a monkey flip and a backbreaker. Tajiri gets a broken up two count as Tazz and Cole give us this gem. Cole: “Eddie suplexed Tajiri through his cars windshield a couple of months ago!” Tazz: “Yeah, I hate it when that happens.”

 

Tajiri gets tosses to the outside as Benoit works over Rhyno now in the corner…but Rhyno picks up Benoit and drives him across the ring into the turnbuckle. Eddie tries to steal the pinfall, but Rhyno kicks him off. Rhyno puts Eddie on the top for a superplex as Tajiri works on Benoit in the corner. Tajiri goes over to Rhyno after the superplex and connects with two hard kicks for a two count. Benoit gets involved, eats a kick from Tajiri and then the handspring elbow for a two count. Rhyno back suplexes Eddie for a two count of his own…but Eddie counters the next irish whip with a head scissors. Eddie and Benoit are alone in the ring now and Eddie gets a rope assisted head scissors on Benoit for two. Rhyno comes in, only to eat some chops by Benoit. Rhyno then knocks Benoit down, but gets thrown to the outside by Eddie. It’s Eddie and Tajiri in the ring now and Eddie counters a victory roll attempt into the El Paso Lasso! Rhyno comes into the ring to try and break it up, but Benoit puts on the CROSSFACE~!

 

This sets up a GREAT moment in the ring as Eddie realizes this and both men put more pressure on their opponent to get not just the tap out, but the referees attention. Tajiri is able to make it to the bottom rope and as soon as he does, Eddie breaks up the Crossface!

 

Eddie goes to pick up Benoit, but he hooks on the CROSSFACE~! Rhyno breaks it up…and spinebusters Tajiri who comes charging at him for a close two count. Benoit throws Rhyno out of the ring and then whips Tajiri into the ropes, who kicks Rhyno off of the apron with his handspring…only to eat German suplexes by Benoit! Eddie comes charging during the Rolling Germans and gets back body dropped over the top! Tajiri reverses the waistlock and hits a German Suplex with a bridge on Benoit for a CLOSE two count. Benoit gets up and charges at Tajiri in the corner, who hooks on the Tarantula! While the ref is with Benoit and Tajiri, Eddie gets the U.S. Title and brings it to the ring. Rhyno GORES~! Eddie…but he was holding the U.S. Title, which ended up shielding him and hurting Rhyno! Eddie goes up top, but gets kicked off by Tajiri! Tajiri goes to the top, but Benoit crotches him, putting him in the Tree of Woe! He gets on the SAME turnbuckle and hits the Swandive Headbutt and goes for the cover! ONE…TWO… NO!! Tajiri stops the cover at the last possible second!

 

Tajiri goes for a kick on Benoit, but he’s able to duck…and picks up Tajiri for a powerbomb. Tajiri, on Benoit’s shoulders, maneuvers himself towards the ropes to head scissors Benoit over and does so…but in the process, lands HARD on the outside! Meanwhile, Eddie Frogsplashes Rhyno on his back to get the pinfall and retain his title!

 

Winner: Eddie Guerrero

 

My Opinion: Excellent match, as all four men put on great performances. Eddie continued to play up his cheating, opportunistic character in the match up and tried to steal a pinfall any time he could. Eddie using his U.S. Title to protect himself from the Gore was a nice touch as it eventually lead to the win as Rhyno was unable to recover. The competition between Eddie & Benoit continued as they both tried to get submissions in a cool, funny moment that actually had a lot of drama and suspense in it. I’m not usually a fan of Tornado style matches because they tend to be hard to follow, but it was pretty condensed, they kept it in the ring, it was quick and all of the work involved was very good. ****

 

In the back, the winner of the first Elimination Chamber match, Shawn Michaels is getting ready for his match tonight.

 

We now go to footage of last week’s Smackdown, where Brock Lesnar DESTROYED Zach Gowen in their match, F5’ing him into the ring post several times and busting him WIDE open with his mother at ringside. Michael Cole announces that Gowen broke his only leg in two places and his match against Matt Hardy at SummerSlam will not take place.

 

Cole gets very emotional as he talks about Matt Hardy coming out on Sunday Night Heat and declaring himself the victor via forfeit. Footage is then shown as Matt Hardy says that real wrestles even if they’re hurt….so since Zach is too soft to compete, he wins by forfeit. The ref actually raises his hand and it goes down in the record books.

 

Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title

 

Match Background: These two have a very long and storied past, which will take me forever to get to if I want to finish this Diatribe today. For the FULL story prior to their Wrestlemania 19 match, read the Match Background section of my Wrestlemania 19 Diatribe.

 

At Wrestlemania 19, Brock Lesnar faced Kurt Angle for the WWE Title in a match that saw both men come out of the match injured. Kurt Angle had to undergo career threatening neck surgery and Brock Lesnar almost broke his with his botched Shooting Star Press, although he emerged the victor and new WWE Champion. Kurt Angle made his return to the ring a little over two months later, claiming that Brock Lesnar became a true friend during the ordeal. He thanked him and wanted a rematch for the WWE Title that he lost to him at Wrestlemania. Brock agreed to it, but it wasn’t going to happen just yet as The Big Show felt that he was in line for a title shot and had a legitimate claim to the title since he had pinned Brock several times in tag and handicap matches. There was a 3 way dance at Vengeance instead, with Kurt Angle hitting the Angle Slam on Lesnar and getting a clean pin on him to become the WWE Champion for a fourth time.

 

The next night on Smackdown, Angle celebrated his victory and said that this one meant the most to him because he wasn’t sure if he’d even be able to wrestle again. This brought out Brock Lesnar, who told him that while they were still friends, he’d like a rematch for the WWE Title, one on one…and Angle agreed. This then brought out WWE Owner Vince McMahon who basically told them that this match would NOT be taking place because Brock hadn’t “earned” it and insinuated that they weren’t truly friends, Angle & Brock. Brock then said that he’d earn it by beating Vince in a steel cage. Vince agreed to it and said that his “friend” Kurt Angle would be the special guest referee. Prior to the match, Lesnar was found in the back, apparently unconscious and Vince implied that it was probably Angle who did it. Lesnar came to face Vince anyway and tried to end it quickly with an F5. However, he passed out when he lifted Vince and Mr. McMahon went for the cover. Instead of complying, Angle put him in the Ankle Lock…and then Brock kipped up.

 

He picked up Angle and F5’ed him several times before throwing him into the cage and officially aligning himself with Mr. McMahon. Vince, the following week, said that we didn’t know the REAL Brock Lesnar and now we would. This Brock only cares about the WWE Title and said that Angle stopped being his friend the moment he lost that title. He went on a rampage, bloodying Spanky and Zach Gowen this week. The match was made for SummerSlam…the Wrestlemania rematch: Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Title. The first time these two men met, Brock was the overwhelming favorite, a babyface who had overcome all obstacles. Now, Angle may be the champion once again, but this time, he’s the babyface…and Brock Lesnar is the obstacle.

 

The Match: Brock comes to the ring first, slowly walking up the ramp, instead of doing his old Happy Dance. He jumps onto the turnbuckle…but the pyro doesn’t go off. Hmm.

 

The ref brings both men together for instruction, but basically tells them that they both know the rules…so just shake hands. Neither man does as they go into their respective corners. Nice touch.

 

They lock up and Lesnar backs Angle into the corner, but the ref breaks them up. They lock up again with Angle getting a quick waistlock and taking down Brock. He transitions into a front face lock, but Brock counters into a hammerlock as they continue to mat wrestle. Angle gets up, reverses the hammerlock and takes down Brock, putting on a side headlock before Brock retreats. The lock up again, with Brock getting a waistlock, but Angle counters BEAUTIFULLY, wrapping his foot around Brock’s for a takedown and gaining the advantage again. Angle puts on a side headlock, but Brock scissors the head. Angle escapes relatively easily and it’s a stalemate again. Lesnar then shoves Angle to the mat twice, gaining confidence as he demonstrates his strength.

 

Lesnar tries to do it again, but Angle counters and shoves him away, frustrating Lesnar. The crowd even reacts to it as Angle then arm drags Lesnar all over the place and he leaves the ring PISSED. Brock starts going nuts at ringside, throwing monitors and kicking the steel steps and in a hilarious moment, the timekeeper and ring attendants cower in fear as Brock approaches them. Brock takes the WWE Title and starts walking up the belt with it, claiming that it’s his.

 

Angle comes charging from behind and knocks him down. They begin brawling on the outside, with Brock taking the advantage. Angle takes over and rams Brock into the guard rail before going into the ring.

 

In the ring, Angle gives an overhead belly to belly to Brock for a two count. He starts to work over Brock in the corner, but the freakish strength of Brock takes over as he gorilla presses Angle and tosses him over the top rope to the outside! He goes to the outside and throws Angle into the steel steps before throwing him back in and going to work. He just tosses Angle over his head with a standing overhead belly to belly, barely arching his back. He gets a two count and picks up Angle to press slam him, but Angle floats over and rolls him up for a CLOSE two count. Angle charges at Brock again, only to get a tilt a whirl backbreaker from the former Champion. Brock puts on a rear naked choke as Tazz tries to describe the possible counters to it in a great piece of commentary. Tazz and Cole have really come into their own as announcers.

 

Brock transitions his rear naked choke into a pinfall attempt for two and then turns it into a body scissors. Angle starts to get up and is able to escape, but ends up running in a Lesnar knee to the midsection. Brock lifts up Angle and drives his knee into the back with a backbreaker before putting the boots to him in the corner. Angle gets up and battles back, rolling up Brock with a close two count, but Brock counters with a clothesline. Brock picks up Angle…and connects with a Fisherman’s Buster! Come on guys, I just finished giving you props…call that move! Make it MEAN something! Tazz just calls it a “High Cradle.” Bah. Brock goes for the cover and Angle kicks out at two!

 

Angle, in the corner, tries to fight back again, but Brock knocks him down again. Brock then stands Angle up, only to drive him into the turnbuckles with his shoulder. He does it several times…but he goes to the well once too many as he ends up ramming his shoulder into the post! Brock is visibly selling his shoulder and Angle hits a shoulder block before connecting with a dropkick to the knee! Brock gets up, but Angle knocks him back down! Angle hits the Rolling Germans with Brock holding his shoulder the whole time! Angle goes to whip Brock again, but Brock counters and belly to belly’s Kurt! Angle gets up, and goes for the Angle Slam, but Brock counters and hits a Spinebuster, just like he did at Vengeance! He gets a big two count…and Brock goes for the F5!

 

Brock spins…and somehow they botch the move. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but Angle immediately went for the pin on Brock for two. Angle goes to whip Brock, but Brock lifts Angle up for the F5 again…only to get DDT’ed on the way down. Alright…now it’s obvious that they blew it the first time and they redid the spot. Either way, it got a two count.

 

Angle takes the straps down and looks for the Angle Slam and gets it! ONE…TWO…NO!

 

Angle puts the straps back on….and then takes them back down! He hooks on the Ankle Lock and Cole is VERY unbiased as he shouts for Angle to break Brock’s ankle for Zach Gowen. Brock counters the hold by rolling through, causing Angle to run into the ref and knocking him down. Angle charges at Brock, gets tosses over his head…but somehow hooks on one of the oddest looking submission holds I’ve ever seen. Angle, is upside down across Brock’s back as Brock is standing…but Angle’s legs are scissoring Brock’s arm and head. Brock looks to be getting weary and falls down to one knee. As Brock falls, Angle transitions it into the Ankle Lock! Brock can’t counter it as he’s in the hold for quite some time…and taps out, but the ref is down!

 

Suddenly Vince McMahon comes into the ring and hits Angle across the back with a steel chair! Vince goads Brock on as he goes over to Angle, limping BIG TIME and puts him on his shoulders for the F5! He’s hopping on one leg…and ALMOST DROPS KURT ANGLE ON HIS FUCKING HEAD!

 

Brock, clutching his leg, rolls over on Angle…the ref comes over for the pinfall. ONE…TWO…NO!!! Angle Kicked out!

 

Brock looks over at Vince and gets some encouragement, who tells him to do it again. Brock, limping still, picks up Angle for the F5, but Angle counters and puts on the Anklelock! He tries to make it to the ropes, but Angle pulls him back! Brock crawls to the other set of ropes…but Angle pulls him back again! He does this two more times before Brock is in the middle of the ring with no where to go! BROCK TAPS OUT!!

 

Winner: Kurt Angle

 

After the match, Vince McMahon comes into the ring and tries to hit Kurt with a steel chair, but Kurt ducks and nails him. He opens up the chair…and Angle Slams him through it! Kurt then celebrates to a great ovation from the crowd!

 

My Opinion: This was a great, great match marred by a few things. First off, I absolutely loved this match. It told a great story with Angle fighting off the larger man and just trying to survive, picking his spots and having to expand his repertoire, as Brock continued to get frustrated with his inability to put Angle away. Two majorly blown spots and Vince interference knocks it down a few pegs or it definitely would have been better than their Wrestlemania match. If you compare the two, they are two completely different beasts as the first match had neither man really heeling it up in the ring and because of Angle’s injury then, they couldn’t go all out. The first match had a blown finish and no interference, while this match had interference, two blown spots during the contest but a 100% clean tap out victory for Kurt Angle.

 

Not only did I absolutely love this match, but the result really shocked me. I’m sure this is only milking it towards a third encounter, a rubber match between the two, but after all of Brock’s build up, I didn’t think he’d lose clean. Brock has never lost clean as a heel and has never tapped out before, so that adds to the drama and element of it…but Angle has never truly gotten over on Lesnar in a true one on one match. This one match, although not nearly the match that Angle/Benoit from Royal Rumble was, puts over Angle as a great superstar for being able to take down the almighty Brock and he’ll probably be a bigger face for it. Throw in the added bonus of putting down Vince McMahon in an Austin-like fashion and the crowd is going to LOVE him now. Brock doesn’t lose much, as all he has to do is squash some more little guys on Smackdown the way he did to Spanky and Gowen and he’ll be just as over. Basically…even though the 4-way was better work rate wise (which is what I base my star ratings on), this is the better match. ***3/4.

 

In the back, Goldberg listens to music as he works out and gets ready for the EC.

 

The Arizona Diamondbacks (including the man that ended my Yankees at the 2001 World Series, Luis Gonzalez) are shown at ringside. I boo you all…but I thank you for giving the Red Sox your former closer.

 

Finally, we focus in on a gorgeous brunette that has apparently won the WWE Diva contest, Jamie Koeppe. As my best friend Keith would say, I took one look at her and have declared her…the Girl of the Month.

 

We get an AWESOME video for the following match up. WWE’s production is seriously the best thing that company is good at.

 

Prior to the match, Howard Finkle lets us know that the Kane/RVD match will be a No Holds Barred Match.

 

Kane vs. RVD in a No Holds Barred Match

 

Match Background: For months, Kane and RVD were tag team partners, even winning the World Tag Team Titles. However, all was not well with those two as Kane never fully trusted RVD.

 

When Kane lost a match to Triple H on Raw a couple of months ago, the stipulation stated that should he lose, he would have to be unmasked. Kane took off the mask and immediately chokeslammed RVD. He considered himself a monster, a burned freak, although we later learned that his scars were psychological, not physical. RVD tried to reason with Kane, telling him that he didn’t need it but Kane continued to hurt him, tossing him through walls and chokeslamming him. Eric Bischoff sent Jim Ross to interview Kane at the WWE Studios at Stamford and prior to the interview, Kane told him that should he be made fun of, he’d burn him alive. J.R. tried to reason with him…and in a hilariously bad segment, Kane lit him (or his stunt double) on fire.

 

The next week, Linda McMahon came to Raw to help deal with the situation and declared that Kane is under house arrest, yet would still be able to come to “work”. He was to face RVD at that show and ended up smashing his head into the Raw set, knocking him out. When officials tried to restrain him, Kane picked up Linda McMahon and Tombstoned her on the steel set.

 

This brought out Shane McMahon the following week, who ended up receiving the same treatment on the steel steps. Finally, Kane was to have faced Eric Bischoff in a match, but got himself deliberately counted out because he refused to do what the fans wanted. This brought out RVD, who was making his return and he went after Kane. He went for the Five Star Frogsplash, but Kane moved out of the way…and RVD crashed into a steel chair.

 

In a match RVD had with Christian for the IC Title, Kane interfered and hit him in the head with a chair, leaving him limp and allowing Kane to easily take him to the back. In the backstage area, he poured gasoline on RVD and was ready to set him on fire (with RVD looking petrified), but Kane said that the fans would WANT to see that…so he wasn’t going to do it. But he let him know that he could take him out at any time.

 

So tonight, RVD has his first real chance to try and slay the monster that he awoke, in Kane.

 

The Match: RVD charges into the ring and connects with rights and lefts, but Kane connects with a hard clothesline. Kane then lifts RVD up…and throws him throat first onto the top rope, causing RVD to fall to the outside. Kane follows him to the outside to continue the pain, but RVD is able to get a brief moment of separation by moonsaulting off of the guard rail onto him. RVD starts attacking Kane again, but Kane is too powerful. Kane goes under the ring and pulls out a large ladder, going into the ring to pull it through. RVD kicks the ladder up into Kane’s face before coming off the top with a kick to him in the ring. Rolling Thunder attempt by RVD, but Kane catches him by the throat. Kane goes for the chokeslam, but RVD kicks him away and cross body’s him over the top.

 

In the most RIDICULOUS piece of commentary that I’ve EVER heard, Jim Ross says that what Kane did to him was wrong, but he’d heal…BUT, what he did to Linda McMahon was terrible, horrible and Kane has no conscience. J.R.: “The hell with me, but what he did to Linda McMahon was absolutely revolting.” Now…maybe it’s just me. I could be wrong here, who knows. But if someone tried to BURN ME ALIVE, I wouldn’t try to downplay my own possibly fatal injuries in order to put over the boss of the company, who was walking around and is seemingly FINE now from a move that clearly didn’t even connect very well. There’s a fine line between corporate ass kissing and selling a storyline, but that is just ridiculous. Seriously…who is writing this crap? Once again…I must reiterate. It’s things like this that prevent me from taking anything Jim Ross has to say seriously.

 

On the outside, Kane sets up the steel steps, but RVD gets him to come back into the ring. He hits his custom spinning wheel kick and the shoulder blocks in the corner before coming off the top with a kick to Kane’s midsection, knocking him down. Spinning legdrop by RVD only gets a 1 count though.

 

RVD jumps on the top rope, but Kane shoves him off and RVD crashes face first into the guard rail. Kane picks up the ladder and charges at Rob, nailing him in the head with it. Kane tosses RVD back into the ring and gets a two count for it. Kane chokes RVD…but gets admonished by the ref…so Kane goes after him. He goes back to Rob, kicking him HARD in the midsection in the corner as this match has slowed down considerably.

 

As Kane is on offense, Jim Ross then tries to talk about his fear, the memories he’s trying to suppress and the pain of being burned…but really, why should we care? He already said “to hell with me” right?

 

RVD finally comes back with a spinning kick to the face, but Kane punches him off the apron and he falls to the outside. Kane goes to the top, looking to fly at Rob on the floor…but literally gets caught up in the ropes and falls back into the ring! He gets up and goes for the move, but Rob moves out of the way and NOW a “You Fucked Up” chant starts.

 

RVD grabs the ladder and nails Kane in the midsection with it. Kane isn’t phased though and DDT’s RVD on the floor, which looks worse with RVD’s exclamation point sell! Kane grabs the steel steps and goes after him, but RVD drop toe holds him and Kane falls face first into the steps. RVD then dropkicks Kane into the crowd, then drapes him over the guardrail and hits his spinning guillotine legdrop off the apron onto him.

 

RVD grabs a chair and brings it into the ring. Kane, now in the ring, gets knocked down by RVD as he charges at him with a spinning wheel kick. Rob puts the chair on Kane’s chest and connects with Rolling Thunder on the chair! Kane sits up though…so Rob dropkicks the chair into his face, which J.R. mistakingly calls The Van Terminator.

 

Kane sits in the corner…so Rob goes to the other corner and goes for the REAL Van Terminator (which J.R. just calls “going coast to coast”, but Kane moves out of the way! RVD leaps at Kane on the outside, but he gets caught and Kane Tombstones him on the steel steps!

 

Kane tosses RVD back in for the easy victory.

 

Winner: Kane

 

My Opinion: The match was slow and plodding for the most part, but the spots, when they hit were pretty believable. RVD got a lot more offense in that people probably thought he would, but he was just another victim of Kane’s rage. At least the Van Terminator was protected. He’ll probably face Shane McMahon next month on PPV and then after that, who knows…but pretty soon, they won’t be able to keep him away from the World Title. **1/4.

 

In the back, Terri tries to interview Eric Bischoff who’s being tended to by some of the medics in the back. Eric tells her to leave…and on her way out, we see Linda McMahon enter the building in semi-casual clothes compared to how we usually see her. She walks into the area where Bischoff is being tended to and amazingly enough, the trainers are nowhere to be seen. Bischoff starts stammering and trying to apologize, but she just slaps him.

 

That might be a nice little payoff to some, but come on. If you tried to sexually harass your immediate supervisor…who is the wife of the owner of the company, your ass wouldn’t even be on the premises in the next 5 minutes, let alone wrestling on PPV. I can understand MAYBE if she allowed Bischoff to stay on so Shane could beat his ass at SummerSlam, but now that the match is over, she’s very much in the right to just fire him. But unfortunately, logic doesn’t factor in much for this company anymore.

 

In the back, Triple H is staring at his World Title and Ric Flair lets him know that he’s not saying goodbye to it…he’s not.

 

We get a video for the EC…with clips of the first match.

 

Triple H vs. Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Nash vs. Chris Jericho in an Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

 

Match Background: This match was originally scheduled to be Triple H vs. Goldberg one on one for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, due to either political maneuvering on the part of Triple H or upper management trying to kill three birds with one stone, three singles matches were made into a six man Elimination Chamber match about 3 weeks ago on Raw. Going into the match, Kevin Nash was feuding with Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels with Evolution member Randy Orton. After Stone Cold Steve Austin made the match an EC match, Triple H became very paranoid. In the first Elimination Chamber match, Triple H lost the World Heavyweight Title to Shawn Michaels and afterwards, spent 2 days in the hospital with a broken trachea…and Triple H remembers it. He’s hoping to bank on fellow Evolution member Randy Orton to make sure that he remains the champion.

 

Chris Jericho and Kevin Nash have been feuding for a few weeks now, with the climax of their feud being the Hair vs. Hair match they had on Raw last week. Jericho won after using a pair of brass knucks and cut off Nash’s gold locks afterwards, leaving Nash no choice but the short hair cut he has now. Shawn Michaels looks to win his second Elimination Chamber match as Goldberg wants two things…to be the World Champion and to eliminate Triple H for it.

 

Most of the men here have storied histories with one another and they should come into play during the match. In WCW, Kevin Nash was the man to first defeat Goldberg and take his only World Title from him back at Starrcade ’98. Goldberg and Jericho feuded two months ago. Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels have had a rivalry this year that saw them compete in a great Wrestlemania match. Triple H has feuded with everyone involved except for Randy Orton...will SOMEONE finally unseat Triple H tonight?

 

The Match: For those of you unaware of how the match works, there are 4 internal chambers in the ring and there will be a wrestler in each of them. The other 2 men start the match and every 3 minutes someone is released from their chamber. Elimination occurs via pinfall or submission and can occur at any time in the match.

 

Triple H is one of the 4 men in the internal chambers tonight, wearing scuba gear-like ring tights that make him look worse than his “macho purple” if that’s possible. Jim Ross informs us that Triple H hasn’t won at SummerSlam since ’98. The 4 men in the chambers are Nash, Goldberg, Triple H and Randy Orton. Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels start it out in the ring.

 

Ric Flair is at ringside, near Triple H’s chamber, by the way.

 

Y2J and HBK lock up in the ring, exchanging armbars and hammerlocks until Michaels springs off the second rope with a cross body attempt that is reversed for a Jericho near fall. Michaels then gets a backslide for a close two before they hit another series of nearfalls. The crowd is actually hot for Goldberg for the first time on PPV since his arrival to the company, chanting his name.

 

Jericho gets up after the series of near falls…and slaps the taste out of Michaels, so he returns the favor. Jericho tries to put HBK in the Walls of Jericho, but Michaels rolls him up for a two count. Jericho counters with a bulldog and a Lionsault attempt but HBK moves out of the way, but not out of a clothesline. The clock winds down as Jericho comes off the top rope onto Michaels and Orton is the next man in. He comes off the top with a gorgeous high cross body on HBK for two and a nice dropkick. He clotheslines HBK over the top onto the steel grating and Jericho starts chopping away at Orton’s chest. Orton comes off the ropes and hooks Jericho in Mike Sanders’ 3.0 for a two count! Michaels gets back into the ring and starts battling both men, but Jericho hits an enziguiri on Michaels for two. Orton takes down Jericho with a dropkick before going to work on him in the corner and then attempting the RKO on Michaels. HBK shoves him away and Y2J back body drops Orton over the rope onto the steel grating.

 

Jericho goes after Orton on the grating as Michaels tries to take a breather. Jericho comes back into the ring where Michaels tries a dropkick, only for it to be reversed into the Walls of Jericho. The clock winds down as Kevin Nash comes in next and he goes after Orton.

 

He goes into the ring and goes right after Jericho, ramming him into the steel chains, busting Jericho open. Orton, in the meantime, is with Michaels as Nash tosses Jericho in the ring. Nash grabs Orton off of HBK and side slams him for two. Nash helps Michaels up…and then clotheslines him for a close two count!

 

Nash nails Michaels off the ropes with a forearm and Jericho goes after him, only to get a big boot. Nash goes for the Jackknife Powerbomb on Jericho, but HBK superkicks Nash and Jericho rolls up Nash for the elimination!

 

All 4 men are down momentarily until …and the clock winds down. Triple H is out next…but he takes one step out of the chamber, only for HBK to superkick him back in! Nash gets up…and powerbombs Jericho! He rams HBK into Orton and then powerbombs Orton before leaving the ring!

 

Michaels crawls over and tries to pin Orton, but he gets his foot on the rope. HBK goes over to Jericho to try and do the same, but he also gets his foot on the rope as well. All three men are up now, battered and fatigued, battling each other with no one getting the clear cut advantage. The clock winds down and Goldberg comes into the match fresh as a daisy.

 

He nails everyone in the ring and then press slams Orton…turning it into a powerslam for a HIGH impact move there. The crowd is HOT for him as Michaels and Jericho actually team up for a moment, only for Goldberg to knock both men down. Goldberg then looks over at Orton…who turns around only to get speared and eliminated! Jericho comes off the top with a missile dropkick on Goldberg for a quick two count attempt, but Goldberg gets up and press slams Jericho into the steel chain barrier! Goldberg turns around only to face HBK…who ends up in the Tree of Woe.

 

Goldberg gets on the steel grating, where Jericho is slowly getting up in front of the glass chamber…and when he turns around Goldberg spears him through it! The glass actually held up at first, but a second, instantaneous shove with Jericho’s body sent him crashing through.

 

In the ring, HBK nails Goldberg with a flying forearm, kips up and hits a top rope elbow! He sets up for Sweet Chin Music…but Goldberg moves out of the way and spears him! He jackhammers Michaels and eliminates him….and then spears Jericho and jackhammers HIM to send him packing too! It’s now Goldberg and Triple H!

 

Ric Flair at ringside starts going INSANE! Triple H, who has been in his chamber the whole time because of HBK’s superkick, is hesitant to get out. Flair tries to make sure that the door stays closed and uses his whole torso to keep it so. Both Flair and Triple H flip off Goldberg as he can’t get to Triple H…until he kicks through the glass door! I wonder if those chamber doors are made with the same fibers as limo windows. One could only hope.

 

Goldberg literally pulls Triple H out of the chamber and tosses him into the steel chains several times. Triple H is busted open quickly…and then tries to ram Goldberg into the chain, but he no sells it. Goldberg clotheslines him on the steel rating and they go into the ring. Goldberg sets up for the spear…but Triple H moves out of the way and nails him in the shoulder with the sledgehammer! ONE…TWO…THREE!

 

Winner: Triple H

 

After the match, Ric Flair and Randy Orton come running in to help Triple H. They pick Goldberg up and Triple H nails him in the face with the sledgehammer! It becomes a three on one beat down…and since Goldberg did a poor job of it himself, Ric Flair blades Goldberg and starts punching the wound away. Triple H and Orton cuff Goldberg to the steel chains…and Trips hits him some more with the sledgehammer in the HEAD.

 

My Opinion: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

I’m sorry. I just had to laugh. Actually, no. I’ve got to stand up and applaud the political maneuvering of Triple H. The man legitimately has a groin pull and did ONE thing in the whole match, which was the killing blow. ALL of the booking looked to have Triple H FINALLY unseated for the World Title, by Goldberg no less…and it didn’t happen. Now, don’t get me wrong…I’m SICK AND TIRED of Trips with the World Title and I can’t wait until he loses it, but I’d rather have him as champion than Goldberg. I’m VERY biased here.

 

Putting my biases aside for a moment, Triple H really should have lost here, although the way things look, it’ll finally be Triple H vs. Goldberg at Unforgiven where he SHOULD lose there. Even so, I’m sure that tons of fans were disappointed at the outcome of the match and feel like they wasted their money on this PPV. As I’ve said plenty of times during my TNA Diatribes, the last thing you see on the show is the most memorable. Unless this card has two ***** matches on it, the ending is going to seriously bring it down for some people and sadly, that’s detrimental to the rest of the workers on it, roster split or not.

 

The match itself was booked much better than the first EC match, up until the ending. Even though no one tried to use the cage to its full potential, unlike RVD in the first one, they also didn’t botch anything and the match was a solid contest. Until Goldberg came in and killed everything that moved, there was an unpredictability of the match which there hasn’t been on the Raw side of things since the first EC match. **1/4.

 

(Edit: To Summarize...)

33.jpg

 

Overall: This wasn’t nearly as good as Vengeance as a whole, although Brock/Angle was excellent. There were some surprising booking decisions tonight, but the show is hampered by its flawed main event. It’s not a great show by any means, but don’t let the EC match bring down the whole show…the two Smackdown matches were great.

 

‘Til next time,

 

The Dames, Damian Gonzalez

 

Any questions, comments, anything at all…email me at [email protected].

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