UseTheSledgehammerUh

Tatanka's Samoan Drop is called the "Last Trail", I believe. And what RUB would Lashley get from JBL? JBL just got squashed in a MINUTE by a rookie on a Big 4 PPV. If anything, they were salvaging JBL's career, as he's much more important to their uppercard, IMO.

Re: Lashley's Booking They realized he has a future and gets pops but is not ready for the God-push. So they jobbed him via interference to a former WWE Champion setting up a program where he can be made to look capable in the ring with Finlay, who he will go over.

This would be three PPV bait and switches in a row if all works out to WWE's plans. NYR: "Hey Cena fans! If Cena can survive 5 superstars, he'll leave WWE champion!" Rumble: "Whoever wins the Rumble gets a WM Main Event Title Match!" NWO: "Matt Hardy gets a tag team title shot!" And technically, WWE advertised the Mexicools as getting a WWE Tag Title shot at Armageddon. And also, they advertised Eddie Guerrero as part of Survivor Series. And also, they advertised Steve Austin as part of Taboo Tuesday.

The WWE just bait-and-switched a PPV title match involving a mystery person who turned out to be Tatanka. Re-read that sentence a few times.

How will he work the name "Paul" or Triple H into this promo...

Go away Batista.

JBL wins and I am happy.

Instead of 15 minutes of Benoit/Finlay at Mania we'll get 8 minutes of Finlay/Lashley, so Fit can make Lashley look good on the big stage. Sigh.

Has anyone noticed Jillian's gotten uglier since the mole got bitten off? She's changed her hair and eyeshadow or something. I mean, besides the nice legs and chest I never found her face to be beautiful or anything, but it was decent.

Well, I certainly hope I get to see Noble deliver. Even if I DIDN'T like him, which I do, anything would be a breath of fresh air from watching Scotty do the Worm, Funaki's horrible attempts at looking credible, the Nunzio "clap your hands" dropkick, and Kid Kash's futile attempts to be a good, cocky heel.

I was willing to give Lashley a chance. But his looking lost and generally confused when facing off with two ring veterans like JBL and Finlay really bothered me. He sold well enough and made his comebacks, and the fans responded positively, but I'd rather this PPV time be given to more entertaining characters that can wrestle. Plus, JBL is a great character. Go JBL. (...remembers JBL being squashed in a minute to the Boogeyman on a Big 4 PPV...nevermind)

I'd rather continue our argument about Gibson in **WWE**. Not Ring of Honor where the trained seals are of course going to appreciate him. Not every WWE crowd is full of RoHBots, and thus, my point is proven, that the company could not build around him.

Don't get me wrong, I like Gibson and am happy they protected him by not putting him in (or forgetting, lol) this match. But building him up as a loveable Benoit, Jr? C'mon. He lacks the look and the charisma. And what Benoit lacked in charisma he delivered with in-ring to win over the fans.

Jamie Noble is too bland for the average WWE fan. He's not as good as Malenko. I bring up Malenko because he also had the "bland" look, but great ring skills in WCW. When they attempted to build storylines around Malenko, they needed either A) a great heel to play off (Jericho, Eddie) or B) other heels capable of delivering great in-ring matches when the promos aren't there. And WWE has neither A or B. And since it wouldn't work with Malenko, it wouldn't work with Noble. Plus Noble lacks babyface charisma. And he's NOT Benoit, Jr. Do not kid yourself. He's Nunzio with a better look and more submissions.

Can I ask a question: Do you think it's time WWE cleans house and brings in some new cruiserweight talent? Funaki, IMO, is a joke and hardly a great entertaining wrestler. Nunzio, IMO, is a joke, and while a solid mat worker, not explosive enough or able to connect with a crowd. Scotty 2 Hotty needs to be released ASAP, as he has neither the look, entertainment value, or in-ring skills needed. London's very good. Kendrick's kinda goofy, but works hard. Helms is getting there. Needs acting classes and a better finisher. Kid Kash has good and bad efforts. Super Crazy and Psicosis just seem washed up to me. I've yet to see an entertaining, maskless Psi match. And Crazy just seems bulkier and yesterday's news. Keep London, Spanky, and Helms and start indy-purging?

The brand extension is the reason the cruisers are even further in the toilet than they were in say, 2001. Not only are they delegated to their own division which regularly gets one time slot each week, but they are delegated to the B-Show of WWE. It's hard to develop care for a character's success when the ultimate prize (the title) is worthless. That's why people loved Rey so much. They saw the WCW Cruiser title as the top prize, and wanted him to have it because they liked his character and his skills. WWE has no likeable, pushed cruiserweights. They had a chance to push Ultimo, but he can't speak or relate to the crowd, plus he's significantly slower than he once was. Until the next, great, English-speaking babyface cruiser comes around that WWE wants to seriously push, expect meaningless filler matches like this one.

Noble's undefeated except for the multi-man match at the Rumble, and I think WWE, for some reason, wants to keep him on his winning ways and not add too many multi-man losses to his record. Perhaps there are plans for Noble to get a title run.

I don't get why you people would expect this to get 15-20 minutes. None of the cruiserweights, if any, are particularly over with the crowd. They pop for the occassional Dropsault or Super Crazy Moonsault but have no emotional connection to ***ANY*** of the cruisers in this match.

Do you think WWE has the balls to turn Taker heel this week on Smackdown!, start a program with a dejected Rey, and claim he's holding Eddie's soul hostage or some stupid nonsense? Because Taker and Rey kinda lack opponents for Mania. I've heard Taker/Henry but Taker embarassed Henry already on free TV. I think Henry inadvertantly helps Angle retain tonight, but Rey/Taker would be amazing, and has only been done once. Talk about the IMPOSSIBLE DREAM for Rey. Beat Taker at WM or lose Eddie's soul.

I remember him embarassing the DA back in 92 by dropping 2 straight falls to Koloff on WCW SN. God, Zbyszko sucks so much. He never fit in with the DA, IMO, and looked like the lamest partner ever when he subbed in for Arn to team with the Horsemen in 91 for War Games. Even Dusty on commentary was busting on the Horsemen for picking such a lame partner.

HBK/Benoit/Foley/Shelton Vs. Evolution was really fun. Team Austin Vs. Team Bischoff is, IMO, a legit **** match. Team Alliance Vs. Team WWF from Survivor Series 01 is fun, but lacks a lot on replay value and the fun value was hurt by having too many WWF guys.

Understandable. However, for the newer, younger fans who support Benoit, and haven't seen Booker/Benoit outside of their aborted WWE Best of 7 matches, I think tonight will be an emotional and meaningful bout. I think it's been built extremely well given Booker's situation, and that we're just spoiled by seeing them work too many times.

How someone can not be excited about Benoit/Booker confuses me. The funniest guy in WWE has done awesome commentary and KNOWS he can't beat Benoit clean, so he has a sub. win the freakin' title, continues to fake an extended injury, pisses Benoit off, puts over freakin' FINLAY on commentary, brings up the GWF, and... Uh oh. There's a PPV title defense. Against Benoit. Who I can't beat. And there's no way out of it. What a blowoff. Should be awesome, if Booker's healthy.

*** THE TAPE IS FROM YEARS AGO *** Stapp wasn't "worthless" then, his music was very popular and at the top of the charts.

* Match 1: London & Kendrick over The Dicks Nothing match. Exciting finish sees London springboard off one Dick's back, and do a twisting Shooting Star Press (he didn't hit it all...) onto the other Dick outside the ring. Spanky finishes off the other Dick in the ring w/ Sliced Bread #2. FIRST WIN OF THE YEAR for Kendrick & London. * Really good Bret Hart video package - Hall of Fame WM 22 announcement * Match 2: Tatanka over Scott Matthews Complete squash. Tatanka no-sells every attempts of offense by Matthews. End of the Trail finishes. * WrestleMania 22 "Big Time" commercial * Match 3: Mascarita Sagrada over Octagoncito Horrible, unfunny, and insulting to the viewer's intelligence. Another terrible juniors contest. Sagrada wins with a La Magistral cradle. * WWE Divas Lingerie Magazine commercial * Awesome Kurt Angle promo video (from Smackdown!) * Highlights of Angle/Taker's showdown and victory on Smackdown, Henry gets tombstoned * Match 4: Super Crazy over Nunzio Psicosis and Vito out there, respectively. Really good short match. Great move by Crazy, executing a slingshot senton over the ropes and onto Nunzio, who is laying on the arena floor. Moonsault finishes. Not the "MOTY" wwe.com is hyping, but a good, HEATLESS, main event. ____________________ * Match 1: Kane over Johnny Parisi Parisi gets mic time (?!) and lays out an open challenge. Kane accepts. Chokeslam. 1-2-3. * Backstage, Tomko & Snitsky are mad at each other because they lost. Tomko claims the team will break up if they lose tonight. If they DO lose, Snitsky says it won't be his fault. Snitsky smells a woman's shoe, further irritating Tomko. * WrestleMania 22 "Big Time" commercial * Highlights of Raw's "Road to WrestleMania Tournament" semi-finals. * Match 2: Snitsky & Tyson Tomko over Phil Brown & Chris Hemrick Total squash. Hemrick wrestles with an ugly grey shirt on for some reason. Snitsky pins Hemrick with the Big Boot. Ugly. * Raw preview (Three-Way Tournament Final) * Bret Hart HOF video * Match 3: Goldust over Trevor Murdoch by countout Okay match, not boring, but not terribly exciting. Murdoch bails and gets counted out after escaping the setup for the "Shattered Dreams" kick while Goldust plays the the crowd. Uh...ok. The Rhodes "family" explodes...! * WWE Divas Lingerie Special ad * Match 4: Viscera over Rob Conway Conway almost wins after Vis misses an avalanche and Conway SCHOOLBOYS VISCERA (!!) for 2.9. Vis quickly hits the "Sex Drive" (two-handled sit-out chokeslam) for the pin. This didn't suck.