Hunter's Torn Quad

This year's WM was a fine affair. The matches ranged from great to good to total DUD's. MITB: A good opener, but while there were some great spots, I don't think it was as good or as spectacular as the previous two. I'd say it was in the ***1/2 range. The Edge/Jeff Hardy spot was insane, and the Matt Hardy/King Booker spot where Hardy threatened Sharmell and forced Booker to get down off the ladder might be the start of a program between the two, and it might hopefully see the end of the 'King' gimmick. Great Khali vs. Kane: Not terrible, but a complete DUD. The fact that it didn't suck beyond belief is a miracle in itself, but that doesn't mean it was in any way good. That backstage skit: Am I the only one who thought it was terrible and in no way funny? Chris Benoit vs. MVP Couldn't tell you anything about the match because I had no interest in it at all and wandered off until it was over. I do know that MVP got no reaction coming out while Benoit got a tremendous reaction, which reminded me of his match with Orlando Jordan at Summerslam in 2005. That should be called the Orlando Effect. Donald Trump/Boogeyman skit: It sucked. The HoF clips: It seemed full of genuine emotion, and I'll stop at that. Undertaker vs. Batista: This was was shockingly good, with Undertaker working hard to carry Batista and Batista managing to hold up his end of the match just fine. I wouldn't call it ****; I think, like with Khali/Kane, the fact it was so much better than people thought it would be made the match seem better than it really was. It was still a good match, though. I'd say in the ***-***1/2 range. Tommy Dreamer & Sandman & RVD & Sabu vs. Elijah Burke & Marcus Cor Von & Matt Striker & Kevin A fair match, that was neither good nor bad. It was just there. The finish surprised me, and it looks like RVD is either staying or they're very confident he is. Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga: Very awkward and nowhere as good as a match between these two could be, which I think you can blame on the storyline surrounding the match, because without the need to involve anyone else, I think Lashley and Umaga could have a very entertaining brawl. Umaga was kept stronger than Lashley, getting to lay out Austin twice, while Lashley had to sell for Shane. Melina vs. Ashley: This was another 'match' that I had no desire to watch, so I went elsewhere. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels: A very good match, but not quite as good as some people have said it was, and I'd even go so far as to call it disappointing. I thought it was very good, like I said, but I was expecting something special from these two, and while they produced a strong match in the ***3/4 to **** range, it wasn't what I think they're really capable of. The first ten minutes or so was pretty boring, and I wasn't all that excited by it. As the match went on, it got better, and they really had the crowd going by the time they hit the home stretch and some of the counters and near falls were very well executed. I'm not shocked to see Cena win via the STFU, and while I can see why some people aren't happy with it, Cena is WWE's golden child and is going to be in the main event scene for a long time. It makes total sense for Cena to win on the biggest stage of the year. How they build the rematch will be interesting, because they can't build any more tension between the two without Shawn going full blown heel on Cena, and I don't see that happening. All in all, a good WM. Not the best, but close to being one of the best. EDIT: Did anyone else catch this piece of WM feedback on the Torch site:

Batista/Undertaker going on this early has me a little concerned that Batista might be going over. Then again, it could be a very subtle tease of Batista going over as a way to create doubt over the result. In any event, I think this match going on so early is very weird. I'd have this going a little higher up the card.

Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emilianenko Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlai Silva Anderson Silva vs. Frank Trigg Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera Tito Ortiz vs. Alistair Overeem Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson Matt Hughes vs. Takanori Gomi Jens Pulver vs. Hayato Sakurai Tim Sylvia vs. Josh Barnett Michael Bisping vs. Sokodjou Dean Lister vs. Kazuo Misaki Josh Koschceck vs. Joachim Hansen Brandon Vera vs. Mark Hunt Jeff Monson vs. Kazuyuki Fujita BJ Penn vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

From the latest Observer: The booking team is Russo, Mantel and Jarrett, with Jarrett steering things and Russo and Mantel pitching ideas. The TV is written by Russo, with Mantel helping. The idea of Russo merely being a 'consultant' has turned into a joke, with Mantel calling Russo "consultant" as a rib. Bryan Alvarez pointed out on one of his radio shows that if it looks Southern then Jarrett probably booked it, if it looks like something that would happen in Puerto Rico then Mantel probably booked it (a lot, but not all, of the Abyss storyline Mantel did with Abyss in Puerto Rico), and if it makes no sense at all, then Russo probably booked it.

*John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels for WWE title I see this getting 35 minutes, including the match, with the actual match itself going around 25 minutes. It'll be really good to great, and I think anything less than **** will be considered a disappointment. It will likely be gimmick free for the most part, and Cena is good enough that in those types of matches he can be carried to the level of who his opponent is, and with Shawn Michaels as his opponent it'll mean the match should easily be really good, but like I said, anything less than a really great **** match will be considered disappointing. I'll say Cena retains clean with the FU. *Batista vs. Undertaker for World title This will need a ton of gimmicks, because Batista is terrible. It's laid out to be a "powerhouse brawl", which should hopefully play to Batista's only strength and that's his power moves. Because of the nature of the match, and that Batista is involved, it should not go more than 15 minutes, because anything longer than that runs the risk of exposing just how bad Batista really is and that Undertaker is carrying him. Anything other than Undertaker going over clean would be insane. Though, I expect Batista to be kept strong, not least because these two seem to be headlining the Smackdown post-WM house shows, so I can see him kicking out of the first tombstone before going down to the second. *Bobby Lashley w/Donald Trump vs. Umaga w/Vince McMahon losing second gets his head shaved by referee Steve Austin Is there anybody who seriously thinks Trump is getting shaved? Umaga is losing, Vince will try to get out of having his head shaved, eat a stunner for his troubles, and get shaved bald, with much comedy and greatness from the ensuing Vince expressions. *Money in the Bank ladder match: C.M. Punk, Edge, Randy Orton, King Booker, Fit Finlay, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy Mr Kennedy appears to be the favorite to win, and I'll pick him too, though Edge might also have a chance. Of the other six, The Hardy's, Booker, Punk and Finlay aren't winning for different reasons, most of which you can work out yourselves, and Orton might have had a slight chance, but I think the SI piece might have done enough to put those to rest. *Chris Benoit vs. MVP for U.S. title If Benoit is moving to Raw, then MVP wins. If not, then I expect MVP to win anyway, but it could go either way. *Great Khali vs. Kane -*** *Melina vs. Ashley for women's title -**** *Tommy Dreamer & Sandman & Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Elijah Burke & Marcus Cor Von & Kevin Thorn & Matt Striker It should be a fine match, nothing that good or bad, and it'll likely end with Burke getting the win for the New Breed. As for which Original drops the fall, you can make a case for any of them doing the job, so it's even money on which one does it.

I think that was the plan until the rasslin' fans turned on her. Hemme was intended to be the heel. The idea behind Hemme being the heel is that she represents the women who the wrestling fans can't get and so the fans are supposed to hate her because of that. The storyline is one of Russo's, so if it doesn't make sense, now you know why.

Almost any wrestler with name value, however small, will get a reaction when they return after a long break, especially when put in the babyface position of making the save. The real test is when Jarrett isn't new and isn't in set up spots to get the big pop.

The reason it's a knock is because Vince is trying to recapture the late '80s/late '90s (the eras of Hulk/Austin-Rock) on Cena's back. It's a stupid knock. Big deal that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan level draw. Almost nobody will get to that level again. Cena is a big enough draw that he makes WWE a ton of money, and makes himself a ton of money.

Why do people use the fact that Cena isn't a Austin/Rock/Hogan draw as a knock against him? You're comparing Cena to a level of popularity that you rarely see, and will be lucky to see anytime in the next fifty years.

From this week's Observer, about TNA's reaction to what the fans had to say about Against All Odds: So, if you didn't like AAO, then you're on WWE's payroll. Which means at least a few people here need to see if their paycheck has arrived this week.

Where did this news come from? I saw it myself, but don't recall it coming from anywhere of merit.

I'm stunned that anyone would still have faith in TNA to do anything approaching the right thing for business. I fully expect Jarrett to be the babyface to finally dethrone Christian. He might not get on the first try, because he'll went to keep the program going for as long as possible, but come the blowoff Jarrett will hit the Stroke and get his toy back.

New Japan and NOAH have weekly TV shows featuring matches from the most recent tour. New Japan occasionally do have PPV's while NOAH will sometimes show their bigger cards live, but neither happens very often. I think All Japan has a monthly TV show rather than a weekly one. DDT is very much a sports entertainment style promotion; they once had a ladder as Hardcore champion (seriously). You won't get a lot of great wrestling with DDT, but you will get tons of goofy entertainment. Steroid usage in Japan isn't is prevalent as it is in the US, but it does happen. I think it's mainly down to Japanese fans being into an athletic look rather than being into physiques; as long as the wrestler looks like an athlete, they don't mind if he doesn't look like a bodybuilder. The main drugs of choice in Japan are painkillers and alcohol; a number of the bigger Japanese names are notorious drinkers. It's all down to the physical style and blocking out the pain. PuroresuDVDSource are usually good to go with. PuroresuDVDSource

It doesn't matter who the source was for the story, it's still an insane mindset to have towards criticism.

The Electrified Cage match was announced at the tapings to be taking place at Lockdown.

They wanted to build towards the title change taking place at Wrestlemania X. And it might have, had Lex not bombed royally.

Meltzer

Not buying the PPV's, I can tell you that.

To shed some light, the recent Observer said that the TNA booking team were apparently upset with Joe's remarks at an ROH show about tripping over some bad booking, so his job to Tomko and getting laid out three times were their revenge. It was also hinted that he might not now get the NWA Title either.

Joe losing makes his loss to Tomko even more stupid than it already was. Remember when Joe was special?

Btw, Joe might not be getting the NWA Title, so be prepared for a crowd revolt.

TNA's most devoted fans want Russo gone. I can't wait to hear how that gets spun.

Wrestlemag