Thanks for the Fish

I have no problem with ECW being SD! equivilant to Raw's wwe.com Heat. Hell Velocity was a pretty damn good show back in the day, and ECW is a pretty damn good one hour wrestling show right now. I've said all along that ECW wrestlers wouldn't get better working with each other every week, and now they don't have to. I'll take "Heat/Velocity" level matches like last nights Wang/Moore vs M&M, CM Punk vs Jamie Noble and CM Punk vs Dykstra over a lot of the stuff they force on us on Raw and SD! any day of the week.

Here's a Kingston match vs TJ Wilson - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1DKkM47dBY - You have to stomach a pretty bad interview segment at the beginning of the clip. Nattie is horrid in that role. TJ Wilson should probably be in the show as well, teaming with DH Smith as a new Bulldogs tag gimmick.

He's very solid in the ring. It the developmentals he was on an other level it seemed. He is a true cruiserweight though - probably what took him so long to get the call-up.

Nobody cares about Deuce and Domino because their gimmicks are too cartoony. I think they should be broken up already - let Deuce become Snuka's kid and let Domino either head back to developmental, get cut or do his ADC rip-off. I wonder if they'll try and do that "Spearbuster" spot again this week.

Why was the RVD/Santino match so short? They could have easily have taken 3-4 minutes from Janetty/Kennedy which was too long. Janetty needs new ring gear. Sure he looks like shit, but the ring gear makes him look 10x worse. Battle Royal was shitty. Nobody in there was worth anything. It needed bigger names or a reason to exist - say a contract on the line or something. Skinner was in there so damn long? Why? IRS, Slaughter and Skinner get the F3 spots because they still work for the company fulltime? Keirn would play a great dirty old man character. No Head Cheese reference was disappointing as well. Old Austin would kick his own ass if he saw what he has become. Hulk was fun - however you know he was there because he's down on his luck. Kissing wwe ass now because he might need the gig to pay some bills rings hollow. Molly is still hot as hell. Carlito pulled off some pretty nice stuff in the ladder match, he's still heavy footed so his flippyshit moves in slow motion, but he pulls it off. HHH plays a terrible funny man. I'll never care about Team NAMBLA. Wrestling fans love midgets. Show ran out of gas near the end. Janetty/Kennedy was too long and killed the tired crowd and the final segment seemed poorly put together. Mankind and Austin are played out and nobody cares for them other than the initial nostalgia pop. I'm surprised they showed Angle, Christian, Booker T, Goldust, Nash, and Dudley's in highlight packages.

Sid as Kennedy's bodyguard would make certain sense. I wonder if they'll hold Sid off if they have a longer term plan for him than a nostalgia show.

With nothing being specifically written for Hogan, I wonder if he'll be there to get a cheap American Gladiators plug and play no other part. What's the over under on the number of matches tonight on the three hour show? 4.5?

Corino would have to work under a mask because his forhead is a mess from all of the blading over the years. Does he have any connections in the front office - Johnny Ace know him from Corino's Japan tours? Dusty Rhodes worked with him years ago. I think he could work if with the SD!/ECW brand, however would have no shot with Raw's roster.

I wonder if anybody will score contracts from the gig tonight. The battle royale should be for a wwe contract. Mean Street Posse - Where is Joey Abs!! Rodney and Pete Gas took the stiffest chairshots short of Japanese Death Matches and never complained about it. Bastion Booger's gimmick was supposed to be that that huge humpback roll of fat on his back wa supposed to prevent him from ever getting pinned. I'd rather see Darsow portray Smash than Repoman. I wonder if Neidhart will have any Nattie tie-in.

Isn't Gangrel directing porno's these days?

I don't blame him, I mean he'd probably just be part of an ensemble skit or something...

I think Vince realized that Mysterio and Carlito are their only Latin American wrestlers these days. Chavo Guerrero to I guess but he basically gets sympathy pops at best. That is simply too big a market to neglect and Vince probably realized that he better push Carly and keep him happy.

Tyson/Austin was #1 for me it had me marking out like a kid who still believed it was real, Jericho's debut was probably #2 it was done perfectly. Live Sex was a terrible segment, This is your life Rock wasn't even funny. HHH/Steph Wedding was good television at the time though. "Who killed Vince" Explosion would have been much higher is the story wasn't forced to go in the crapper. Radicals debut would probably have ranked as well if Benoit didn't go rabid wolverine on his wife and kid. #2 looks like Rock and somebody nose to nose - Rock and Austin? #2 looks like the first Austin beerbath. Can't figure out #1...

I'm betting the Evolution Reunion will start laying the foundation for the rumored HHH vs Batista WM match.

I'm thinking Rock might be a super secret suprise that only Vince and Rock know about. The cover story is that he was asked and turned it down so people won't expect it.

It's that stupid-ass six-sided ring. It's just ridiculous. Switch to the traditional square ring and I bet ratings would go up 0.2-0.4 points within a couple of weeks.

Yeah. He's been working a lot of house shows and dark matches lately.

Gleaned from a site who seemingly stole them from insider... Sounds like an alright show. Miz/Morrison need a tandem finisher if they're going to team for any length. Majors are bland as hell. There really isn't another over or near over tag team to put the titles on right now. Maybe Jesse and Festus I guess. I'm just tired of the rival partners gimmick, though Miz and Morrison are getting along pretty well now I guess. The burial of Carlito is almost complete. Now he's going to be replaced by Kofi Nahaje Kingston, a Jamacain beach bum gimmick replacing the Caribbean Cool gimmick. Kingston is a pretty solid worker from what I have seen of him, though is a natural cruiserweight. I wonder if he is going to be ECW or he'll have clips showing on all three shows sorta deal. I guess we'll find out or Raw tonight, but if he debuts on Raw I think the Carlito rip-off vibe might be too much. Who did Kenny Doane piss off in the back? When is the last time he won a match? Kid has all the potential in the world., I guess they're making him pay his dues. Yang should make Shelton look like a million bucks. Thorn is probably on his way to being released. I guess they could use commentary to put him over with some sort of new gimmick or whatever, but he's a generic not-so-big man these days. Punk vs Henry could actually be good, or it could be a train wreck. Was the finish ever in question though?

And with Hall's no show and mic burial last night there was an instant I thought he "jumped"...

Miz and Morrison vs Jesse and Festus - Didn't we just see this on ECW last week? And they did the same thing with Punk vs Dykstra last week. I wonder what match of the night from ECW this week we'll get on SD next week... So Burke gets Benjamin to jump to ECW but then he jumps to SD!?? At least they're doing something with the kid. I'm actually interested in seeing this match. Southern Belle and Redneck Messiah in cahoots? Noble is a great character. He's just too damn small and not flippy enough to ever be taken seriously in the wwe's land of giants. I'm really interested in the VIP lounge this week as well with Michael Hayes - sounds like it was really good. Hayes is one legend I think is under utilized by the wwe. Finlay/Horny vs DD feud does nothing for me. I guess they want to keep Khali out of the ring while still keeping the storyline active for the PPV, but damn Finlay could be utilized so much better. Why couldn't Edge go over Kane cleanly? It's not like Kane is in any title picture or anything and Edge is heading into a big match. I guess the post-match angle was the real story here and the match was only a means to get there. No use jobbing out Kane when nobody will remember the match anyways.

Downplay your wrestling fandom and play up how it fits your desired field and your schooling. Wwe hates fanboys looking for jobs...

My Bad. I can't edit it though, Mods will have to get on it. Ddin't seem to do anything out of the odrinary considering they'll be going head to head with TNA... Is Henry with Striker as well now? Otherwise Striker should have tried the tried and true "Heads V wins, tales Henry Loses" bit...

Dark Match: Victoria defeated a local Diva jobber. Not sure of the name. (insider said it was Nattie Neidhart!) They just announced Rey Mysterio & Kane vs. Viscera & MVP for later tonight. WWE SmackDown: Opening SmackDown! video airs and pyro explodes followed by Edge's music. Edge comes to the ring to open SmackDown! to a huge 'You Suck' chant. Edge talks about is new relationship with Vickie Guerrero and how he wanted to make a statement on The Undertaker for Vickie. He talks about how much he's in love with her. He says she is at home sick and dedicates the match tonight to her. It was basically just a long promo hyping the main event. Huge heel heat for Edge. A Hornswoggle & Finlay video promo airs. Finlay & Hornswoggle vs. Deuce & Domino. Finlay & Hornswoggle win after Finlay hits Domino with the Shillelagh and Hornswoggle does the Tadpole Splash for the three count. An Edge video airs once again hyping how great he is and tonight's main event. Michelle McCool & Jamie Noble are backstage talking about Chuck Palumbo. It's Chuck vs. Noble later on tonight. CM Punk vs. Kenny Dykstra is up next. Huge pop for CM Punk. Very even back and forth action to begin. Punk used lots of footwork but Kenny was able to keep him grounded. Good match so far. CM Punk gains control though and is able to hit his kick knee to the face finisher. I guess they really liked their ecw match last week and decided to put thim on the B-Show. It was definitely a good showing last week... Rey Mysterio & Kane vs. Viscera & MVP is up next. They did all four entrances with lots of stalling. Huge pop for Mysterio. Big Daddy V was in for a second and then MVP took over. Rey got the hot tag and the match went back and forth between Rey and MVP. Rey went for a 619 but was tripped up. Big Daddy V came back in for another short period. Kane and Rey team together for some double team moves. Kane hits a clothesline and Rey hits a splash followed by a 619 on MVP for the win. Good ending and the crowd is super hot live. MVP should be the last wrestler taking the pin in this match We get another Edge video hyping how great he is and tonight's main event. Batista is interviewed in the back about his match tonight with Edge for the World title. Jamie Noble vs. Chuck Palumbo. Chuck hits his head on the turnbuckle and Noble rolls him up for the win. Looks like Jamie made friends in the right places when he was a roadie for the cruiserweight division. Good for him as he deserves this push Backstage we see a comedy segment with Vince McMahon and Khali's translator. It's announced that Finlay vs. Khali is on for the Armageddon PPV. The t-shirt guy is out shooting stuff into the crowd and JBL is getting himself some heel heat by calling the Roanoke fans 'Monkeys' for jumping around like idiots for a shirt. Stalling. Edge vs. Batista for the World title. This match went around 30 minutes and was said to be good. Edge is out to big heel heat and Batista is out to a massive pop. Match starts with Batista on top. Batista uses lots of power moves to begin. Edge ducks out of the ring and gets major heel heat. Crowd is loud and into this one. The two fight outside the ring. Batista throws Edge back in and charges at him only to have Edge pull the ropes down sending in flying back to the outside. Edge is about to go for a spear and the lights go out and the gong hits. After about 10 seconds, 'Taker appears in the middle of the ring and chokeslams Batista as Edge escaped. The match ends on a DQ. Teddy Long then returns and says since Vickie isn't there tonight he can still make matches so it'll be The Undertaker vs. Batista vs. Edge for the World title at Armageddon.

I too absolutely hate the six-sided ring and it is a huge reason why I can't bother to watch the programming. It's just reeks of gimmickry and "different just for the sake of being so". It's likely too much a part of the company for them to drop in in favor of the regular square version, however many look awkward as hell working in it - consider that outside of the few that ever worked lucha in Mexico, nobody has worked in a six-sided ring and when they work indies and Japan they are back working four-sided rings. The most awkward part is when the wrestlers seemingly don't know if they are being thrown off the ropes or into a corner, and if it is a corner spot they often are thrown in such a direction that they have to decide which corner they want to go into on the fly and noticibly change direction to get there.

Then again both Kane and V worked SD! as well...