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Guest I Got Banned for Sucking

Raw VS SmackDown!

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Guest I Got Banned for Sucking

Raw VS SmackDown!

11/06/04-12/06/04

By iB ([email protected])

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Pretty settled in the new house now. Of course there are a few adaptations to be made, but all is going pretty well.

 

Begrudgingly, I discovered today that Austar's 'Early Bird' PPV promotion is actually 3 days before at the latest, not 2. Vince, enjoy my money.

 

Let's get started.

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This is WWE Raw for the 11/06/04 here, 07/06/04 there LIVE from the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY - Your announcers are Jim "J.R." Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler

 

Tonight, Batista takes on Shelton Benjamin and Shawn Michaels faces the Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton!

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Stacy Keibler kicks us off

 

The highlight was obviously the woman herself. The Diva Search seems to have had a rather quick time-span for entries. Considering that this is the last show before it shuts, there has to be some hype.

 

The 'ring entrance again' thing didn't really make sense, and I think everyone knew that, but is anyone complaning?

 

The promo cleverly hyped the quarter mil Diva Search and the womens division simultaneously.

 

Holy shit, Stacy is pretty damn tall. Gail's attitude doesn't exactly make her look good, but ok.

 

Spot-botching 101, coming up.

 

2/10

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Scheduled for one fall: No. 1 Contenders match for the WWE Womens Championship at Bad Blood: Gail Kim VS Lita

 

Funnily enough, it wasn't really. Pretty fast-paced, but there wasn't really a lot for either to botch. The hurricanrana is a pretty standard "wow" move. While everything about Lita is disgusting, from her looks to her clothes to her wrestling, at least she didn't fuck the thing up.

 

Actually, I don't know what it was here - the match was just seeming a bit different, but it was probably just me. The same goes for Gail as Lita. Not a whole lot to fuck up.

 

Ok, now to the ending... Having Lita win the match was fucking idiotic. I don't care if WWE were planning on making it a 4-way dance based off it, it's stupid!

 

1.5/10

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Eugene's matches are made for tonight and Bad Blood

 

Ok, for starters, I'm sick and fucking tired of non-wrestlers on PPVs. This looked to be the show of the year until this happened. Fuck this.

 

And I bet you any money that despite Nitro losing this evening's match, he'll be back. Especially seeing as noone mentioned the stipulation after the loss.

 

1.5/10

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Scheduled for one fall: Batista VS Shelton Benjamin

 

Not too shabby. You know that I'm a fan of little guy-big guy, especially when the little guy kicks the big guy's ass in technical ability.

 

That's what made this match enjoyable - Benjamin using his amateur skeelz~ to combat the oversized hoss that is Deacon Batista.

 

Nice little ending. Randy Orton is still not allowed to have any credibility as a heel, and while noone remembers that Batista won the match, they remember that Benjamin was shafted. And that adds a nice touch.

 

Wise booking. Benjamin's beaten Triple H more than once, beaten Ric Flair at Backlash, going into this PPV title encounter with Randy Orton, but never gone one-on-one with Batista, so there's your match.

 

2.5/10

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Chris Benoit. Talking.

 

I was pretty damn impressed here. While it was no hardcore in-ring promo, Benoit still spoke, and did it surprisingly well. He came across as down-to-Earth, but still intense as shit in the ring.

 

The Handicap match makes sense. It looked last week as though Benoit would be pulling double-duty at Bad Blood, and this pretty much confirmed it.

 

3.5/10

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The Rock gets some publicity

 

Nice little video. It's oft interesting to see what he's getting up to in Hollywood.

 

Oh, and how does Rocky as the new Harry Callahan grab you?

 

2.5/10

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Kane and Eric Bischoff need to talk

 

Trish just saying that had to mean that she was the No. 1 contender. Looking especially wonderful this evening.

 

A private conversation involving the No. 1 contender behind closed door/s? *Quivers in suspense*

 

2.5/10

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Scheduled for one fall: Chris Jericho VS The Ape Train

 

Look at that, the guy's actually on TV.

 

I don't actually hate Train by any means, contrary to what you may believe. He's certainly not in my top 10. Heck, not in my top 250. But the guy can bring the speed when he wants. His bicycle kick especially comes to mind here.

 

Pretty standard match. Could've had plenty more done with it. The focus was to get Train on TV, though, have him show the least bit of aggression and imposition, before having Jericho get that win heading into PPV. And that's what happened.

 

1.5/10

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SmackDown! Rebound

 

Yeah, may as well give them a heading now.

 

This one was better, because it covered more than just one aspect of last week's show.

 

2/10

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Triple H - a last word before he visits Hell

 

Another nice, short, to-the-point promo before Hell in a Cell, although I don't think it was at the quality of last week's.

 

Using religion was a nice touch for the promo. What was lacking here was reference to their other feuds though - that is an important aspect in making this work.

 

Video packages seemed out of place, but still nice.

 

Triple H on Michaels - 5/10

Michaels on Triple H - 7.5/10

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Holy shit Jerry, what are you wearing!?

 

And Trips' yuppie schtick is so last year now, but worked well for tonight's ending.

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Non-title 2-on-1 tag team Handicap match scheduled for one fall: World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit VS La Resistance

 

I'll say it, La Resistance really dragged the match down. There really wasn't a lot on offer throughout this one. Benoit looked like he was ready to go, but Conway and Grenier both held it down in terms of speed and overall enjoyment.

 

Making it a 3-on-2 affair was very nicely done to hype both of Benoit's matches at Bad Blood. Double-duty it is. Here, while both have been lackluster, Benoit and Edge have a reason to face La Resistance, and Benoit has a reason to face Kane. Well, he did anyway, but...

 

Still nothing great after the match's alteration. Pretty much the same stuff, just involving more people. The ending was also very nicely done - Benoit and Kane are going at one-on-one, Kane sits up from the Headbutt, manages to reverse the Crippler Crossface into the Chokeslam and picks up the 1-2-3. Could it be the end of Benoit's title reign at Bad Blood?

 

2/10

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Batista and Flair are with the leader of their clique, the Coach is at announce - all eyes on (insert humerous observation here).

 

'Nitro gets fired' match: Eugene w/ William Regal VS Johnny Nitro

 

Hmmm... Nitro's first Raw match is his last (...). Sweet irony.

 

But at least it wasn't so bad. It did nothing for Nitro, other than prove him somewhat formidable in the ring, like, that matters in this company. The focus was all on Eugene. Good to see him using some of that old-school stuff, it's working.

 

As much as I hate the idea of a Coach/Eugene "match" on PPV, at least this segment was entertaining.

 

Nice, clean match - Eugene went over, clean, uninterrupted, simple as that.

 

2.5/10

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Hmmm... The Bad Blood card isn't looking so bad.

 

Kane and Lita together

 

Standard segment for these two. Just nothing of substance.

 

And Lita turning heel bitch after Bad Blood could be painful to watch.

 

1/10

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Non-title contest scheduled for one fall: WWE Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton VS Shawn Michaels

 

Highly enjoyable main event.

 

Pitting Shawn Michaels against Orton was smart, because Orton's the gateway to Triple H, watching up in the skybox, and it's not as if they don't have history. Nor as if they could co-exist.

 

To start, things were pretty fast already. No technical work of art, but still entertaining to watch Michaels work always. Orton is improving aswell.

 

When Batista made his presence felt and the blood started flowing, the intensity built to the climax.

 

A terrific ending. Michaels just going apeshit on everyone, Sweet Chin Music and steel chairs, Batista, Orton, security, Flair, and that led to a tremendous skybox punch-up going into Bad Blood.

 

4.5/10

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A good show this week. Heading into Bad Blood, I care about Benoit/Kane (although the hype hasn't been too great), HHH/HBK - Hell in a Cell, Benjamin/Orton, Benoit/Edge VS La Resistance and maybe Jericho/Tomko.

 

Eugene/Coach will be funny at best and the Womens Championship Fatal 4-Way is throw-together and nonsensical.

 

This wasn't the awesome hype show that I'd hoped for, but it did the job for the most part. Some damn good wrestling tonight, with just good promo stuff.

 

4.5/10

 

Bad Blood opinions and predictions below SmackDown!.

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Decent video package to kick us off, what with the suspense factor trying to work in the favour of 'Taker's decision planned as the show's top draw.

 

2/10

 

This is WWE SmackDown! for the 12/06/04, 10/06/04 and taped 08/06/04 from the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY - Your announcers are Michael Cole & Tazz

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An improvement and a first

 

Indeed, the entire opening segment was an improvement on Kurt Angle's behalf. He was a lot more natural with better material after his little fall last week, and it improved the promo.

 

Booker was interesting. Interesting in seeing how he carry on his new turn and inevitably reacting to Kurt. The crowd didn't know what to make of sincerity to a heel, but it worked.

 

But there has to be mayhem, and that has to be the largest Cena pop I've heard in a while. More great working-together of his and Kurt's mic skills, and more respective heat on both.

 

I like the idea of this Triple-Play Challenge. It can show legitimate contenders for Cena's belt, as well as increase the wrestling aspect's quality of the show, taking up time too.

 

Cena got one-up on on Kurt to end things, no doubt.

 

4/10

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Scheduled for one fall: Kenzo Suzuki VS Scotty 2 Hotty

 

Yeah, the violent mysterious schtick isn't working now.

 

Kenzo Suzuki is definitely nothing special, at least not here. Scotty 2 Hotty is the resident bitch, and Kenzo was built-up to be such a force, but with that, we should've known little to no wrestling talent. Nothing special from him at all.

 

And if WWE are going to edit promos and shit for us, then fuck them - I'm not tracking them down to rate them.

 

.5/10

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Another Rock video

 

Interesting. This could all backfire on Rocky later on though.

 

2/10

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Kurt, Book, Rene and Van Dam

 

Geez Kurt, couldn't you think of anything besides the ol' short straw?

 

1/10

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Some entertaining yet not exactly formidable Great American Bash title hype

 

Decent New York vignette, although it wasn't to the quality of it's similar predecessor, nor did it serve a purpose.

 

The 'secret car-jacking' thang isn't exactly original either, but is anything non-wrestling in pro wrestling? It was interesting and somewhat humerous, but really made no sense and wasn't original enough for a tremendously high comedy mark ("mark" means "score").

 

2.5/10

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Paul Heyman and the Dudleyz spiffed-up in their secret location after a kidnapping

 

That entire title labels another set of cliches.

 

Again, the high point was Heyman's talking. He can't manage to increase the angle a whole lot, but and it and this hotel do a bit.

 

And look at that fucking Dudley attire!

 

3/10

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Rey Misterio VS Chavo Guerrero Jr.

 

Yeah, fuck WWE spelling.

 

A damn good match. From the current state of the cruiserweight division, you wouldn't know that either of these guys, especially Chavo, were extremely talented, but there you are.

 

Very fast-paced and energetic, and with a surprising dose of psychology. It just seems that after all of this between Chavo and his father, Chavo Guerrero Jr. VS Rey seems to click. Terrifically-executed spots, great wrestling all around. This is what the cruiserweight division should be.

 

Unfortunately, I'm sure that it was just a fluke. But I could be wrong. Who knows, maybe at the Bash we'll get ourselves a decent Cruiserweight title match? Rey VS Chavo Guerrero (Sr.) is in the cards.

 

Kudos.

 

5.5/10

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Raw Rebound

 

Nicely done. They now appear to be covering more.

 

Obviously, this one was better with Raw's higher quality.

 

3/10

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Oh, that Eddy...

 

The look on Guerrero's face after his little joyride was priceless.

 

3/10

 

And...

 

There has to be some in-ring stuff

 

Still entertaining stuff, watching Eddy definitely getting the upper-hand on his foe. Something about the Champ in the ring tonight was different (probably his attire), and this was fun stuff, but still didn't make mean a lot.

 

2.5/10

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No. 1 Contenders' Triple-Play Challenge - Part 1: Non-title contest scheduled for one fall: WWE U.S. Champion John Cena VS Booker T

 

It appeared as though this one was the benchmark for the two that had to follow.

 

The reasons as to why it was pretty darn good were:

 

A. It's fast-pace, working in with it's

B. Psychology

 

And fast-paced it was. This had the psychology advantage due to the pair's past differences, and really had a sport feel going for it with the time and all.

 

Definitely put Booker over as a strong contender.

 

4.5/10

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Part 2: Non-title contest scheduled for one fall: WWE U.S. Champion John Cena VS Rob Van Dam

 

While I'm no big-time RVD mark, this one was probably the best of them all. Van Dam's obvious speed worked very well here with the worn-out Cena's ability, and was more than just another face VS heel affair.

 

Very fast, with great workrate by Van Dam, if not great pure wrestling.

 

5/10

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Part 3: Non-title contest scheduled for one fall: WWE U.S. Champion John Cena VS Rene Dupree

 

Another good match. More psychology in this one, thanks to about 3 other matches between Cena and Dupree.

 

Solid wrestling, but it doesn't seem completely natural between these two when considering their size and mat art not being their forte. And by that I don't mean they suck at it by any means, I just mean that they're not students of it.

 

Dupree's extra 5 minutes did well in pissing a lot of people off, as did Kurt Angle disagreeing with Cena's F-U victory, which was pulled off quite well for Cena just saying "Fuck this, I'm tired, it's over."

 

But that helps to bring Booker in, for one, by wanting to get at Cena when he's weak and because he couldn't get the job done before (well, he did). And then there's Van Dam, who wants to get at Booker as well as stick up for Cena. But when it comes to that title, he's serious.

 

Set-up the Fatal 4-Way very well, and I'm looking forward to that one.

 

Match: 4.5/10

Hype and execution: 6/10

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Decision time

 

First good point. Paul Heyman just arriving at "where the deal is to be done" after leaving his team's vantage point.

 

No funny business here - no Paul Heyman mic wizardry, 'Taker just comes to the ring, and is now under the power of the urn.

 

Very well done - straightforward and mystical.

 

We all know that the 'Taker isn't going to stay like this. He'll be back and fighting for himself and Paul Bearer by the Bash. This helped the feud out a lot more and was a very promising show conclusion.

 

6/10

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Overall, not that bad of a show. I really like how much the wrestling portion was focused on here, us getting a quality cruiserweight match-up as well as a ditto Triple-Play Challenge.

 

There was fun but not very meaningful Eddy/JBD hype, the U.S. Championship division being handled well at this point, and the same goes for this Undertaker/Dudley Boyz program.

 

Impressed.

 

4.5/10

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With Raw's satisfactying hype going into Bad Blood this week as well as the wrestling content compared to SmackDown!'s satisfying hype in making the Great American Bash maybe somewhat worth some money and maybe even better wrestling content, it's a tie. SmackDown!'s wrestling content is what got it up there.

 

This week's winner of Raw VS SmackDown!: We have a tie.

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iB's Bad Blood opinions and predictions

 

Benoit/Kane - If anything drags it down, it'll be the lackluster build. If we'd had a great angle here built off Kane's premise for wanting the title so much, I'd be anticipating it so much more. But it is still possible pre-match and throughout the show to make it one to remember, and I hope it is.

 

Hard to tip - but I'd say Benoit goes over here and retains against Edge at Vengeance.

 

I'm expecting a tremendous 'big man-little man' match, which is most of the pre-match appeal.

 

Hopefully long and great.

 

HHH/HBK - Hell in a Cell - Has the potential to be the greatest Hell in a Cell of all time. It'll be long, it'll be a bloodbath, it'll be jaw-dropping. Michaels blows the feud off.

 

And Trips, you've got the main event spot despite your non-title involvement. Just like you wanted.

 

Benjamin/Orton - They showed us what they can do on two weeks ago's Raw. They'll only do better here, hopefully, even if the style of that match didn't seem at all like PPV. Orton retains.

 

Victoria/Lita/Gail Kim/Trish Stratus - Victoria/Gail would have been much better and made more sense. It's now just one decent worker + three spot machines. Three bad spot machines. Not that I really give a shit, but Gail goes over.

 

Jericho/Tomko - At least it's not in a Steel Cage nor involving Trish Stratus. Shouldn't be too bad if Tomko can work with Jericho and not fall on his ass next time he tries to master the almighty kick. Nothing too special. If it's not a no contest, Jericho, but I can't see it cleanly.

 

Eugene/Coachman - I don't care. The only thing I'll be looking out for is comedy, and if they can't even deliver that and try to pass Coach off as a wrestler ala Backlash, it'll fucking suck. Every good card has to have a low point. Eugene wins.

 

Edge/Benoit VS La Resistance - The main highlight of their Raw match where the former Champs dropped the straps was the crowd. I think they'll pull it out of the bag on PPV, but the problem there is, even if match will, or at least should be first up, it'll take a lot out of Benoit, especially heading into his Championship match with Kane. La Resistance go over, proving that it wasn't just a stomping grounds advantage.

 

Has the potential to be the PPV of the year. So far, at least.

 

I'll see you all there.

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'Til next time,

Beau

 

Feedback ([email protected]). Archives. DVDs.

 

See you at Bad Blood!

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