Review: WWE Tribute to the Troops 2006, from Iraq.
Ok, I didn't do this for a while, because, honestly, there wasn't much on to watch. I like to interview a lot of stuff in a row, every day, more like.
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It's Tribute to the Troops from Iraq, so hopefully, the guys put on a good show for the soldiers. That's the main reason I'm interested in watching this, in the first place. JR and the King are on commentary.
The first match, and first segment on the show from Iraq, is a non-title match, between Edge (RAW Tag Team Champion) and John Cena (WWE Champion). Sounds good.
Blow-by-blow: Cena applies a headlock at the beginning of the match, and takes Edge down to the canvas. Edge lifts him up into the air, and Cena does it again. Cena gives Edge a shoulderblock, and we go to the chinlock, early. It doesn't last long, so Edge slaps Cena across the face. Edge gives Cena a forearm, and a shoulderblock of his own. Cena comes back with a hiptoss, and then a scoop slam, followed by an elbowdrop, which gets a 2 count. Cena misses a charge to the corner, so Edge gives him a DDT. He goes for the "10 punch in the corner," but Cena stops him at #3, and drops Edge face-first onto the turnbuckle. Cena gives Edge a suplex, but it only gets a 2 count. Cena misses a backdrop, so Edge gives him a clothesline. A "you suck" chant gets going, obviously in the direction of Edge. Edge covers Cena for 2, and puts Cena on the ring apron. Cena slugs away, and goes up top, and an poke of the eye by Edge knocks Cena down to the floor. Edge gives Cena a baseball slide, as we go to a
commercial break.
We're back, as Edge has Cena locked in a body scissors. The soldiers bless us with a "CENA" chant, so Cena powers out of the hold. Cena then gives Edge a "Throwback," but Edge comes back quickly with a big boot for 2. Edge goes out to the floor and grabs a chair, but the referee takes it away before he can use it. A Cena rollup gets 2, and Edge comes back with a clothesline, and elbowdrop to the back for 2. Edge gives Cena a spinning leg lariat for 2, and applies the camel clutch. JR's thinking the same thing I am, that it's funny he's doing that move in the Middle East, and all. Cena powers out, of course, and falls back onto Edge, who lands hard on the canvas. The two wrestlers now slug it out, and Cena gets the best of it. He gives Edge two flying shoulderblocks, and then the "Killswitch" for 2. I'm getting these names in quotations off wikipedia, in case you were wondering. Cena then gives Edge the FIVE KNUCKLE SHUFFLE, which the soldiers go nuts for. Cena rams Edge hard into the buckle, and goes for the F-U, but Edge counters with a jumping DDT for 2. It didn't look like his finisher, so I won't call it that. Edge goes up top and Cena tries to give him the F-U from UP THERE, but Edge counters the move into a modified electric chair drop from the top. Edge tries for the SPEAR, but misses, ramming himself into the corner, so Cena gives him the F-U for the victory at 14:01 (what was shown). The enthusiasm of the soldiers during each of the matches on this show makes me feel warm inside. It's nice to see.
Match Analysis: Liked it very much, and I bet these two could do better. Note: I haven't seen any of their other matches. The time period of this match is a dark period to me. Easy ***. It's nice to get a match like this on the show.
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Video of General Casey coming to the ring, and saying thanks to the WWE, and then, talking about how the country can be proud of our soldiers. Then we see pictures of the talent with the soldiers, and we cut to CM Punk saying "happy holidays" to everyone at home. Shelton Benjamin does the same, but like he doesn't even want to be there. "That it?" These two are up next!!!
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Yeah, it's CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin. Sounds good.
Blow-by-blow: Punk gives Shelton a quick armdrag, and Shelton tries to slam Punk afterward. But Punk counters it into an armdrag, and pushes Shelton down to the canvas. Punk Irish whips Shelton, but Shelton goes all.....STOP, and ducks out of the ring, under the bottom rope. Shelton acts like he's going to leave the area, but Punk runs out quickly and tosses him back into the ring. Punk gives Shelton a few forearms, but Shelton rams Punk shoulderfirst into the ringpost. Shelton begins to work on said shoulder, by ramming him arm first into the buckle. Shelton gives Punk a shoulderbreaker, and applies an armbar. Shelton pulls Punk down to the canvas by his hair, which gets 2. Shelton goes back to work on the arm, until Punk powers out of the hold, and gives Shelton a leg lariat. He clotheslines Shelton and gives him a few high knees, then rams Shelton into the buckle. He kinda charges into Shelton, and gives him the running bulldog for 2. Punk goes up top, and Shelton gives him a pop-up springboard superplex for 2. That was NICE. Shelton misses the SHELTON SPLASH (that's a lame name), and Punk gets the roll-up for 3 at 4:47.
Match Analysis: Typically I hate out of nowhere finishes, right? But since the match was so short, it wasn't really out of nowhere, considering it took place during the finishing sequence. It was **1/4. I would LOVE to see these two in a 20 minute match. Is Shelton any good on the stick? If so, he's being WASTED.
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It's Johnny Nitro w/Melina vs. The Undertaker. The fans wanted to see Melina's whole deal when she gets on the apron, but Nitro covers her up to make sure they can't. Taker doesn't go through his whole entrance, either.
Blow-by-blow: Nitro avoids being crushed by Taker, until he corners Taker, and beats him up. Taker picks him up, and does the same to him in the corner, and applies an armbar afterward. Taker gives him a knucklelock slam, and takes Nitro to the buckle, where Taker gives him OLD SCHOOL. Taker goes for the LAST RIDE, but Melina gets on the apron to distract. She screams a whole bunch, and Nitro gives Taker an enziguri. Nitro gives Taker a dropkick, but he gets clotheslined, and taken hard to the buckle. Taker gives him SNAKEEYES, and a big boot. Of course, the CHOKESLAM and TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER finish at 3:57.
Match Analysis: It was what the troops wanted to see, that being a squash. *1/2.
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Now the national anthem with Lillian Garcia is shown...and then the soldiers talk about their experience in Iraq, prior to the mortar attack that took place near the makeshift arena they were going to build. Yeah, a mortar attack. Sheesh.
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The next match on the show is Hardcore Holly vs. Bobby Lashley (ECW Champion) in a non-title bout. Holly's looking a bit too old to pull off the tough guy role they're probably still having him play.
Blow-by-blow: Lashley gives Holly a press slam, so Holly decides he wants to test Lashley's strength. They lock-up, and quickly, Holly kicks him in the gut. Lashley gives him a shoulderblock, and a snap suplex for 2. Lashley then gives Holly a delayed vertical suplex for 2, and Holly bails to the outside. Lashley tries to follow with a baseball slide, but misses, and Holly rams him into the steel steps. Back inside, Holly rams Lashley into the turnbuckle, and applies an armbar. Holly wraps Lashley's around the 2nd rope, presumably working on it, trying to make him submit. Lashley gives Holly a belly-to-belly suplex, and a shoulderblock. Lashley gives Holly a clothesline, and a discus punch to the back of the neck. He then gives Holly a torture rack backbreaker, and another snap suplex for 2. Holly chops Lashley, and Lashley misses a charge to the corner. Holly tries to give him the ALABAMA SLAM, but Lashley rolls through the hold, turning it into a sunset flip, which gets 2. Lashley gives him a "Bulldog" style powerslam, and that gets 3, at 6:27.
Match Analysis: I don't think Lashley's very good, but I can't say so for sure. His moveset is so thin that he repeated a move. Not only that, he reeks of blandness. 3/4*.
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Interview with an Iraqi Army Captain...I was being talked to, so I didn't catch what he said...and then Chris Masters talks about the Masterlock Challenge later on.
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The next match is a non-title bout, between UMAGA and Jeff Hardy (Intercontinental Champion). Umaga's cool, I guess.
Blow-by-blow: Umaga gives Hardy a back elbow, and then misses a clothesline. He also misses a crossbody, and Hardy goes for a sunset flip. Umaga tries to sit on Hardy, but Hardy gives him a seated dropkick. Umaga bails out, and Hardy gives him a baseball slide, and a pescado. Umaga catches him on the pescado though, and rams him into the ringpost and steel steps. Umaga gives him a headbutt, and a legdrop. He then gives Hardy a kick to the back, and quickly applies a nervehold, before giving Hardy a samoan drop. Umaga goes up top, but misses the big splash. Hardy gives him a few clotheslines and a dropkick, but it's not putting Umaga down. He gives Umaga a jawbreaker, and WHISPER IN THE WIND, which finally puts Umaga down, for the 2 count. I wanted to capitalize Umaga's name throughout the review, but it's too hard. I might do it in the future. Umaga goes for the SAMOAN SPIKE, but Hardy avoids it and eventually gets a TWIST OF FATE. Hardy goes for the SWANTON, but hits the knees of Umaga. Umaga gives him the running ass to face at the corner, and the SAMOAN SPIKE, which gets 3 at 5:51.
Match Analysis: The finish was anti-climatic, but the match was still fun. *3/4, and another match that could be better given time.
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Carlito's talking to a female soldier, cause he's cool and all...prior to his match against Randy Orton (RAW Tag Team Champion).
Blow-by-blow: Orton doesn't look healthy when on the juice. That's just a first observation. Orton goes to the headlock, but Carlito reverses it, and comes back with a few left hands. Carlito gives Orton the 10 punch in the corner, and gives him an armdrag. Orton comes back with a dropkick, and then kicks him all over, prior to doing that pose of his. Have I ever mentioned how funny I find the pose? Orton gives Carlito a spinning side slam, and goes to the chinlock. See, before this match, I told my brother he'd do two of three moves. European uppercut, dropkick, and chinlock. I didn't pay attention to see if he did any European uppercuts, because once he did two of them, I quit looking for it. Carlito powers out and gives Orton a back suplex, and a few lefts. Carlito gives Orton a kneelift and clothesline, which gets a 2 count. Carlito gives him a springboard back elbow, which looks about as smooth as any springboard move I've seen. Orton quickly comes back with that Mike Sanders 3.0 backbreaker, and tries to give Carlito the RKO. He's unable to, and near the turnbuckle, Carlito tries the BACKSTABBER. He can't get that either, as Orton holds onto the ropes, preventing himself from being pulled down. Now Orton tries to pin Carlito with his feet on the ropes for 2, and once the referee catches him, Carlito springs up, and rolls Orton up, for 3, while holding Orton's tights and telling the crowd to hush and not ruin his win. Time of the fall was 5:07.
Match Analysis: Cute finish. Really, I loved it. *1/2. Kinda elaborate, but who cares. At least it didn't get screwed up.
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Santa Claus comes to the ring, along with Maria, Crystal and Torrie Wilson. The troops oughta love that. They throw some panties in the crowd, and the troops fight over it. See? Chris Masters comes out, and he doesn't believe in Santa. He hates Christmas, too. Well, he's going to let Santa have a go at breaking the MASTERLOCK. Santa can't do it, so Masters throws him aside. Now, a troop named Jose Avila comes into the ring...yeah, he's tiny. Especially in comparison to Masters. Anyhow, Masters has him locked in, and JBL is SANTA CLAUS! He attacks Masters, and the soldier breaks the MASTERLOCK. Heh. I like how he jumped around and no-sold the move afterward. the MASTERLOCK'S BEEN BROKEN, BAH GAWD, says JR. And now, JBL gives Masters a CLOTHESLINE FROM BAGHDAD. See, I was going to write that once I saw the move, but the announce team stole the words from out of my mouth.
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That's the end of the show, after pictures from Iraq.
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Rating: Good. I thought the show was fun, and had decent matches. So yeah, good.
Best Segment: Cena vs. Edge
Worst Segment: Hardcore Holly vs. Bobby Lashley. Both suck.
Loudest Sound: Taker and Cena
No Sound: Nobody. Everyone was getting some sort of reaction.
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NWA is next. I'm not reviewing the Christmas RAW, because it'll be up again when the MNW hits that point.
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