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Archive for December, 2008

OK, so there was this match at Armageddon tonight and both Edge and Triple H were involved … and Jeff Hardy overcame those odds to win it all, taking home the WWE Title for the first time in his career, and becoming the first wrestler to ever wear the TNA belt and THEN go on to win a major WWE title.

No, this is not a practical joke, a dream, a prank, and you’re not on Candid WebCam. Jeff Hardy really did beat Triple H and Edge to win the title at WWE Armageddon tonight. At long last!

Hardy, often believed to be one of the most under-appreciated wrestlers on the WWE roster both before and after his stint and title run over at TNA, overcame staid and stale booking habits and other long odds to finally win the biggest belt of all … or at least the biggest belt on SmackDown.

Of course, the booking was scripted to make Hardy look a bit flukey for his first major singles title win; Triple H did the heavy lifting, delivering a Pedigree on Edge for the apparent predictable win, but then Hardy hit the Swanton to dislodge Hunter, take his place pinning Edge, and earning the three-count and a free set of luggage… or not, on the luggage.

Let’s hope WWE and Smackdown play it smart and keep the title on Hardy a good long time… like, all the way to WrestleMania, at least.

This is the match WWE needed to book to cement Cena’s first-night-back title win at Survivor Series last month, or so the theory goes. The good news is that the match was quite solid.

Jericho, who has been turning in match-of-the-year contenders most of the year with Shawn Michaels, is now primed for a long feud with Cena, and his experience from the extended Michaels feud benefited him tonight. Both Cena and Jericho earned their designer watches tonight, and although Cena predictably won, the match didn’t necessarily resolve the feud, so much as add fuel to the fire.

But considering we’re now in the run-up to WrestleMania, that’s only apropos.

At least the second match of the night, though it ran only twelve minutes, was an enjoyable one, even though a titles wasn’t involved. CM Punk proved a great opponent and style match for the over-exposed Rey Mysterio and the two men provided some nice, solid action and decent ring psychology, minus the disposable diapers, to the table during their time on stage.

I half-expected Rey-Rey to get the win, but apparently the WWE wants to keep Punk’s momentum up; I must say, Punk’s handling his post-title-run stint near the top of the mid-card like a seasoned vet; like Chris Jericho, he’s simply wrestling his heart out every time he’s in the ring.

Remember when John Cena used to do that?

The best diet pills in the world can’t make up for the bloated sight of Vladimir Kozlov in a WWE ring. But we’d better get used to it for a while because Matt Hardy lost his title match against Kozlov to become the new ECW champion.

This shows just how little regard McMahon now holds the ECW brand in; punking out a marketable, popular champion like Hardy after a brief run to the underexposed, overrated Russian big man is just not a way to draw viewers to the SciFi show, nor will it put many butts in the seats at TV tapings.

Does anyone remember The Big Show?

Is John Cena the new Hulk Hogan? And I don’t mean this necessarily in a good way.

While I enjoy Cena as much as the next guy, this return to the ring at Survivor series was an event that resulted in him regaining his World Title on his first night back. That’s the kind of star treatment few in WWE have enjoyed since Hulk Hogan left the company to join WCW.

Injured and returning twice in the last year, Cena’s made a habit of carrying around Swiss Army luggage, it seems, but apparently the World Heavyweight Title is in that bag and he can have it any time he wants.

At least with Triple H, there are marital ties to the McMahon family to explain it. With Cena, it could be another Hogan nightmare all over again, if he lets it go to his head. Time will tell.

In a recent newspaper interview, Chris Jericho admitted something that may land him on some Wal-Mart promotional bags before too long. Seems that the WWE superstar, when he was just starting out in Jim Coronette’s promotion, whiled his days between wrestling dates and training, by hanging out at a 24/7 Walmart store in Morristown, TN.

Other hangouts for the young Jericho were movie theaters and the local Sizzler steakhouse. Jericho had spent most of his adult life in wrestling up until 2005, when he decided to walk away for a while; he returned, refreshed and revitalized, two years later, about a year ago.

Looking to change his image, Adam Copeland, who wrestles under the name Edge, debuted his new look on Smackdown this past Friday. Sporting a full beard and mustache, and a shorter, less-glam-rock hairstyle, Edge ended up looking like a cross between Triple H and Big John Studd.

A little acne treatment might have been a bigger help. Don’t count me as a fan of Edge’s new look; his old look made him stand out from the crowd while the new hairstyle does nothing but help him blend into the crowd. Big thumbs down.

Mike Bucci, who portrayed the character of Super Nova in the original ECW and went on to be fitness guru Simon Dean in WWE and has been out of wrestling for nearly two years, has resurfaced. Pro Wrestling Torah has tracked Bucci down, and he is now in the real estate game.

Pushing real estate loans in the mortgage industry, Bucci has apparently gained weight since leaving wrestling, but has leveraged his pop culture background to his advantage in his new venture. I guess it pays better than writing Orovo detox reviews.

Kudos to Bucci for realizing there is a life beyond pro wrestling.

Recent episodes of Friday Night Smackdown bear out the notion that although it is the number two show in WWE’s stable, it is the better destination for fans of in-ring action. While Smackdown features a less-star-studded lineup than Monday Night Raw, the average two-hours-and-overrun broadcast of Raw features 30-35 minutes of in-ring wrestling action.

By comparison, recent episodes of Smackdown have featured about 45 minutes of in-ring action. According to Jim Ross, play-by-play man on Smackdown, this is a result of a cost-saving measure on Smackdown during the run-up to WrestleMania; the company is doing one taping every two weeks on Smackdown, with enough wrestling to fill two weeks of shows. Raw, meanwhile, is still broadcast live most weeks out of the year.

Even laptop memory is not sturdy enough to remember the last time Raw or Smackdown featured this much wrestling and so little “entertainment,” but old school wrestling fans are sure to be in for a treat if they tune in.