clean rob

Orton's winning celebration was the only part of the entire PPV where I can recall the crowd having a decent reaction. I don't accept 'not knowing who to cheer' as a valid reason for being so dead during the match itself - barring a few isolated spots that is. I can't imagine that the whole crowd were thinkin 'well I like Benoit, but I kinda want Orton to win too...so I'll just sit on my hands and see who wins, then I'll cheer.' If the crowd had been split yet enthusiastic, the atmosphere would have been great.

I have to say that I agree with those saying that the crowd detracted significantly from the show. It just seemed to me that a section of the fans had gone in with the intention of shitting on the show, and the rest of the arena followed their lead. It wouldn't have bothered me at all if it had just been a match or two, but it was almost the entire PPV - which I thought was extremely solid from an in-ring standpoint. Apart from the dodgeball and Cena/Booker, every match was **+ and everyone seemed to work hard IMO. Benoit/Orton was a great main event and it still got a really poor reaction. I still thought it was an OK PPV, but a better crowd would have made it a good PPV.

I don't purport to be any sort of expert on Japanese pronunciation, but isn't it possible that there are several different ways to pronounce 'puroresu', all used by the Japanese? Just a thought. Also, can someone clear up for me whether it's 'tum-ey-to' or 'tum-ah-to'?

Yes I am. He's not as good as Rock, but he doesn't need too much improvement to get to that level. Every time he's been in a big match against a decent opponent he's delivered. Like I said, I wouldn't call him great in the ring, maybe not even good, but he's got enough to have earned a run with the belt. Essentially what you're mostly saying here is that you think the a lot of Cena's material stinks. I agree. However, you ask what his promos accomplish - well in a similar fashion to HHH's, they function almost solely to put himself over. You may not like his promos, I may not like his promos, but a lot of people must do, because when Cena does one the crowd lap it up - and that's whats got (and kept, to an extent) him over. It hasn't developed at all, but it doesn't need to right now. If it ain't broke etc. His character is just your typical post-Austin face - he's basically a good guy, but he bucks authority and acts cocky etc. I agree that Cena should try to get a little bit of his harder edge back, but turning him heel sounds like a bad plan to me. The fans are so much behind him that, like the attempted Eddie turn last year, the crowd are likely to just reject the turn offhand. Also, Cena as a heel is nowhere near as effective in the ring. Because letting a future main eventer who seems to be hitting the peak of his popularity wallow in the midcard for years on end is a bad idea. Eddie, Angle, Taker etc. need to elevate Cena now, while they're still here.

He's no workrate dream, that's for sure, but to say he's shit is pushing it. His selling and ability to get a crowd behind him are both great, and he delivers his spots crisply. He's better than Hogan ever was, and not far off Rock, and they both made fine champions. No he hasn't. Cena always looks extremely comfortable on the mic, and although he hasn't quite managed to deliver what I'd call a 'money promo' yet, he nearly always has the crowd eating out of his hand. His material regularly sucks, but his mic technique is better than 90% of the roster. No he hasn't. He's got a well-defined character who a lot of the audience can relate to. In a world of over-the-top characters, Cena's is relatively realistic and translates well to the wrestling world. Most importantly, he's got a character period, which is more than a large proportion of the roster have. Perhaps it is if you suffer from ADD. The gimmick has caught on to such a degree that to change it right now would be lunatic. Well, he's a lot better if that's what you mean. If that's his only positive, how did he get so popular in the first place? It's quite possible for both to be pushed at the same time, you know. And if they meet at Mania, Cena would gain a whole lot more from a win than Eddie.

Yeah I guess that would be fine, I wasn't really picturing it like that before. Sounds like getting that to look good would be pretty difficult. The balance would have to be spot on to be able to shift the leg that far over. I still don't like it. Even getting over the fact that it'd get old pretty fast, why waste a chair on weakening an ankle, when you can just waffle them over the head? Dragon Screws jolt the hip, stepover toe holds twist the knee (unless you really tweak the ankle round, but then it'd pretty much be a modified ankle lock). Aaaanyway, my point is why restrict your possible offence to the ankle when you have a whole leg to play with. All it needs is a spot of announcer selling and it becomes second nature to the audience to think that any legwork Kurt does is probably to reduce the chances of the ankle lock getting reversed.

1) stomps and/or knee drops and/or elbow drops to the ankle 2) drag guy to apron, slam foot/ankle onto apron 3) drag guy outside ring, slam foot/ankle onto floor 4) drag guy outside ring, slam foot/ankle onto ring steps 5) drag guy outside ring, slam foot/ankle ring post 6) drag guy to ropes, place leg on bottom rope, jump up & land on the leg (usually a knee-related move, but can be sold as working the ankle) 7) the "lower leg atomic drop" (again, usually used to work on the knee, but can be sold as working the ankle, too) 8) chair shot to ankle 9) drag guy to the ropes, place leg on the bottom rope, go outside the ring & pull down on the foot 1) Yeah, that would do. 2) - 5) Are all basically the same thing. 6) & 7) Are a bit dodgy for ankle-based offence IMO. 8) Isn't really general offence as it'll get you DQ'd in most matches. 9) Would be fine. So, I'll agree there's a bit more possible offence focusing on the ankle than I could think of myself, it's just a bit limited for my tastes. I'd rather see Kurt attack the leg(s) in order to make it difficult for the opponent to roll through, as this would give him a lot more possible offence to play with, and would be easier to fit into a match that isn't a brawl (of all the stuff you mentioned, only one thing is really a wrestling move). Equally, I suppose, he could attack the arms to make it harder to crawl to the ropes. It's just up to the announcers to sell it in a convincing, sensible fashion (Ha!).

You suspect right. Cheers. No surprises there then - although it could be a decent match if it gets 10+ mins, though I can't see that happening as the card is already getting pretty stacked.

What 6 man tag just got announced? (suspecting Rey/Kidman/London vs. The Dudleys)

What sort of offence is there that focuses on the ankles anyway?

I agree completely. Have Orton in a 25-30 minute match with Benoit where he gets a ton of nearfalls but makes a mistake at the end which costs him the match. Then HHH can give him a load of 'Don't feel bad kid, taking the belt off Benoit is a job for a pro, like me.' spiel to add to the animosity between them. As for Orton's reason for a rematch, 'I came really really close to winning' is usually enough in WWE-land.

Maybe he was pulling a particularly scary gurn. Not to mention that Kane is pretty ugly-looking anyway.

Y2J, Edge & Benoit are the obvious programs to go with, if they really are leeting him go all the way from SS to WM21 with the belt. Even WWE aren't mad enough to try another Steiner main event run. Actually, where is he? Is he even still employed?

You mean a fair GM character? I think that idea's just a little off the wall for the WWE right now. That is a really cool story about Cena, I think I've heard quite a few accounts of him on a personal level from fans over the last couple of years, and they've all described him as a class act when it comes to stuff like that. Cena's more ready for a world title than Orton, IMO (although his ring work is probably slightly worse at this point) and I'm hoping that WWE is holding off giving him the strap to let him film this movie then start a slow build for an eventual Mania win. They should see how he draws in a Hogan-style face champ run.

Against Angle on SD pre-brand split. Meh, I can't remember that one right now, but regardless, Angle was dragging good matches out of everyone round then, and it was quite some time ago now. Still, if anyone can do it, Benoit can. Oh, and there will be no big bump off the cell.

I think it would take a month tops. Bradshaw is in the main event of Smackdown, and he was in a midcard tag team for years on end. RVD has been an upper midcarder for plenty of time now, plus he actually gets a good crowd response.

In case anyone's interested, Kenzo's finisher is a slightly modified jiu jitsu technique called Osotogari ('Major Outer Reap'), which Tazz called correctly. It's actually one of the first things most jitsu schools teach (because it's fairly simple and low-impact) and I've seen white belts do it better than Suzuki did.

I'll be watching Bad Blood, I think it should be at the very least a reasonable PPV. Barring possibly HIAC, nothing looks outstanding but nothing looks utterly worthless either. Benoit/Kane - The last good Kane match was when exactly? If Benoit can drag a good match out of Kane here (or Kane has the match of his life) then I'll be very impressed indeed. HHH/HBK - The feud has been overlong, but at least (unlike, say, Test/Steiner) it's resulted in some really good matches, and this will hopefully be no exception. I don't expect previous HIAC's to be topped in terms of bumps or brutality, but the drama should be great (and it goes without saying there'll be blading-a-plenty). This has to end the feud though. No clean finish will piss me off no end. Benjamin/Orton - Not really sure what to expect here. There's no Flair or Batista elsewhere on the card so I'm thinking interference is highly likely and the feud will continue for a while. Hopefully both guys can turn things up a notch from their Raw matches and put out a good match. Victoria/Lita/Gail Kim/Trish Stratus - I think it's a little harsh on Trish to call her a bad spot machine - she's leagues ahead of Lita and Gail. I'm still expecting badness though, because, well, it's a fourway with the women. Jericho/Tomko - Probable low point of the show, I just want Jericho to win and start moving up to the ME already. Eugene/Coachman - I was pleasantly surprised by Coach's match at Backlash, and Eugene's matches have all been decent so far...I think it'll be fun. Edge/Benoit VS La Resistance - I don't get people saying this match will take it out of Benoit - the chances of him being in the ring for over 10 minutes is virtually nil, and he'll have a good chance for a rest in between matches - he'll be fine. Anyway, I expect the usual tag-team formula stuff and then a bit more Edge heel-turn teasing before his complete turn on Raw. Should be watchable. Pffft. No it doesn't.

WWE-World Heavyweight Championship Match: Chris Benoit © vs. Kane - When was the last good Kane match? If this makes *** they should give Benoit a 12-month reign minimum. Hell In A Cell Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H - Surely they can't get any higher up the 'blow-off to the feud' scale than HIAC. Hence it is the last match in the feud and hence HHH wins, movie or not. WWE-Intercontinental Championship Match: Randy Orton © vs. Shelton Benjamin - Shelton's beat Orton twice recently, a third time seems unlikely. Let Shelton win the SS rematch instead. WWE-Tag Team Championship Match: La Resistance © vs. Chris Benoit & Edge - Surely they're doing the tried-and-true tag team break-up thing... one of Edge/Benoit gets pissed off the other cost them the match, feud ensues. WWE-Womens Championship Match: Victoria © vs. Gail Kim vs. Lita vs. Trish Stratus - Christian's off for a bit, give Trish something else to keep her character in the spotlight. Chris Jericho vs. Tyson Tomko - Jericho needs to start getting some momentum if he's getting a title shot anytime soon (fingers crossed). What little I have seen of Tomko is all suck. Eugene vs. Jonathon Coachman - Via cheating/interference, naturally.

Quite probably. I'm not offended by it personally - like many people have said, it's just pro wrestling. I just think it was a pretty stupid thing for such a supposedly intelligent man to do, it really won't do the WWE any favours in the German market and he really should have thought that it might not be such a great idea before he did it. Still, I'd probably just give him a slap on the wrist and tell him not to do it again.

No it isn't. But it's worse from the company's point of view for a wrestler to be doing something illegal in public.

It's not quite the same thing (though personally I'd think discouraging steroid use and the like would be a good thing). Bradshaw did something illegal clearly in front of a large crowd. I think if a wrestler took steroids in such a public fashion Vince would not be best pleased to say the least.

I find it very odd that some people are fine with Eddie attacking members of the crowd, but not flipping them off and saying their country sucks.

I only caught the move once, but I thought it was an exploder suplex with a floatover. Only JR called it a 'powerslam', which it definitely was not. I say go with the classic tag-team break-up leading to a title match between Benoit and a heel Edge. If it goes well then perhaps even have a rematch at Summerslam, or at Unforgiven if HHH is desperate to ME the big PPV. If it doesn't, then Jericho or HBK can step in.

Sounds like a really well-balanced DVD, one for me thankyou please! Anyone know who actually got to pick the matches?