~Last night, WWE's April PPV event, Backlash, took place in Baltimore, Maryland. Here's what went down.
-The show starts off on the right foot with Mick Foley being announced as the new Smackdown color commentator. He replaces Jonathan Coachman. Woo-hoo.
-Matt Hardy defeats MVP to become the new WWE United States Champion.
-Kane leaves Chavo Guerrero for dead and retains the ECW Championship.
-WWE Champion, Randy Orton, reminds everyone that they are living in the "Age of Orton" and that the WWE Title is going to stay with him after Backlash.
-Big Show beats The Great Khali.
-Shawn Michaels fakes a knee injury during his match with Batista. Then, Batista gets suckered into Sweet Chin Music and loses the match to Michaels.
-Beth Phoenix pins Ashley to get the win for her team in the 12-Diva tag match.
-The Undertaker kills Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Title.
-Triple H is the last man standing and beats JBL, John Cena and Randy Orton to become the new WWE champion.
-Randy Orton is put on suicide watch.
Foley was AWESOME on commentary! No dead air. No awkward pauses. Insightful analysis. Mick Foley, where have you been these last few months for Smackdown?
Speaking of commentary, Mike Adamle wasn't bad tonight. However, he did mess up the name of the referee in the only match he called that night (Kane vs. Chavo), which I thought was kind of funny.
I really liked the finish to the Matt Hardy/MVP match. It really was a solid opener and a big win for Hardy.
The finish to the Michaels/Batista match was pretty sweet as well. Michaels is such a good seller, I can never tell when he's really hurt and when he isn't. Batista = Silly Rabbit.
My girl, Layla El, was looking good, as usual, in the 12 Diva tag match.
They are selling the new gogoplata finisher The Undertaker does as certain death for anyone who happens to get caught in it. I prefer 'Taker's old finisher, the Tombstone Piledriver, but I can respect the fact that Undertaker wants to upgrade his moveset every once in a while.
Ha ha ha. Khali chop?
Overall, I thought Backlash was a solid show. I enjoyed all the matches, some way more than others, but I enjoyed all the matches. Plus, the addition of Mick Foley to the Smackdown commentary team was great. My only beef was the fact that loads of people were cut from the show like CM Punk (minus a three second cameo), Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison & The Miz, Santino Marella, Umaga, Finlay, Carlito, Festus, Jonathan Coachman (just kidding with that one) and that's all I can think of at the moment, but that was my only minor problem with the show.
~Last week on Smackdown, The Undertaker and Batista fought to a no-contest, Big Show got laid out by The Great Khali, Cherry upset Victoria and MVP beat Tommy Dreamer. This week's episode is headlined by The Undertaker vs. Batista rematch for the World Heavyweight Title.
-The show starts with "La Familia" (Edge, Chavo Guerrero, Smackdown General Manager, Vickie Guerrero, Bam Neely, Zach Ryder, Curt Hawkins and Teddy Long). Edge says he'll be the new World Heavyweight Champion after he wins his match at Backlash and he says Chavo Guerrero will beat Kane to be the new ECW Champion.
-Randomly, CM Punk comes out and reminds everyone that he holds the Money in the Bank briefcase, meaning he can receive a world title shot whenever he wants within the next year. GM Guerrero announces that it'll be Edge vs. CM Punk later that night.
-Shannon Moore picks up a win over The Miz.
-Natalya runs through Cherry.
-Matt Hardy and WWE US Champion, MVP, have a confrontation before their match at Backlash. Hardy says he's gonna win the belt and MVP doesn't like that.
-So, MVP hits Hardy in the face with the belt. Take That!
-Edge defeats CM Punk.
-Vladimir Kozlov beats on some chump.
-Shawn Michaels, who has a match against Batista at Backlash, interferes in his match against The Undertaker.
-This leads to The Undertaker winning the match and retaining the World Heavyweight Title.
John Morrison was on commentary during the Miz/Shannon Moore match and he had some pretty funny lines. They should replace Coach and put Morrison in instead.
Cherry still has horrible theme music.
Speaking of Cherry, she got completely handled by Natalya this week. In my opinion, Natalya had a solid in-ring debut and I'm excited to see more matches featuring her.
Although the Big Show/Great Khali match at Backlash will probably be pure garbage, there was a pretty good highlight video of the Show/Khali feud shown. I think this is going to be way better than the actual match.
That was a solid segment with MVP and Matt Hardy! I know Hardy's gonna take that title though.
Vladimir Kozlov is the man!.
The last 5 minutes of the Edge/CM Punk match was just awesome. The crowd was so into it. I think it was the match of the night.
WWE Backlash Preview ~WWE's latest PPV event, Backlash, is gonna take place later tonight. Here's the announced card:
WWE Title Fatal Four Way Match Randy Orton (champion) vs. Triple H vs. John Cena vs. JBL
World Heavyweight Championship Match The Undertaker (champion) vs. Edge
ECW Championship Match Kane (champion) vs. Chavo Guerrero
Batista vs. Shawn Michaels Special Guest Referee: Chris Jericho
Big Show vs. The Great Khali
WWE United States Championship Match MVP (champion) vs. Matt Hardy
12-Diva Tag Team Match WWE Women's Champion Mickie James, Maria, Ashley, Michelle McCool, Cherry & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix, Melina, Jillian, Layla, Victoria & Natalya
Right off the bat, I'm looking forward to the Michaels/Batista match because Shawn Michaels can make anyone look good in a match and because I wanna see what Chris Jericho is going to do.
Of all the title matches going on, the only title switch I see is in the US Title match between MVP and Matt Hardy. I don't think MVP really even needs the belt anymore, because I think he's still a strong performer and has enough credibility without the gold around his waist. At this point, I think Hardy needs it more, especially since he is just coming back from an injury.
I'm interested to see how Randy Orton retains the WWE title this time. I know that it's possible that he could lose, but I'm digging the "Age of Orton" and I think he'll get a decent run with the title, maybe at least until August.
I'm also interested to see just how bad Big Show vs. Great Khali is going to be.
More Screwups with Mike Adamle ~Once again I would like to point out that I am optimistic about Mike Adamle improving as a play-by-play "analyst" on ECW, but these videos highlighting all his mistakes are just too funny to me. Here's all his screwups from the latest episode of ECW.
(Pics from WWE.com) ~This week's episode of Raw is a "special" 3 hour edition featuring the return of the King of the Ring Tournament and a "special" appearance from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain.
-The show starts with WWE Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho, getting a win over WWE United States Champion, MVP, in a KOTR first round match.
-"Mr. Money in the Bank" CM Punk beats Matt Hardy in a KOTR first round match.
-JBL says he's gonna win the WWE title at Backlash in his match against WWE Champion, Randy Orton, Triple H and John Cena.
-The Great Khali gets disqualified from his KOTR first round match and that allows Finlay to advance in the tournament.
-Raw General Manager, William Regal, gets the final spot in the KOTR semifinals after beating Hornswoggle.
It's announced that the semifinal matches will be Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk and Finlay vs. William Regal.
-Shawn Michaels and Batista have a quick little staredown before their match at Backlash this Sunday.
-Hillary Clinton appears in a pre-recorded message, calling herself "Hill-Rod" [ha ha] and says she can "take a hit for the American people".
-Carlito beats WWE World Tag Team Champion, Hardcore Holly in a non-tournament match.
-Hardcore Holly and his tag partner, Cody Rhodes, beat down Carlito and Santino Marella after the match.
Triple H says he's gonna leave Backlash with the WWE Title around his waist.
-CM Punk beats Chris Jericho in a KOTR semifinal match.
-Barack Obama speaks next and he asks the crowd if they "smell what Barack is cooking?" [ha ha].
-William Regal defeats Finlay to earn the final spot in the KOTR finals.
-John McCain talks to the crowd now and says he's "the man" and that it'll be "game over" come November [ha ha].
-John Cena says the WWE title is going to be going home with him after Backlash.
-"Barack Obama" and "Hillary Clinton" have a match but...
-Umaga, who must be a Republican, comes down to the ring and beats them both down.
-A celebration ceremony in honor of Mickie James winning the WWE Women's Title last week is crashed by Beth Phoenix, the former champion, and a bunch of other haters.
-Everybody starts kung-fu fighting.
-William freakin' Regal defeats CM Punk to win the 2008 King of the Ring Tournament.
-WWE Champion, Randy Orton, Edge, JBL & Chavo Guerrero beat John Cena, Triple H, Kane and World Heavyweight Champion, The Undertaker in an eight man tag team match to close out the show.
Man, I was feelin' that tournament after the first two matches. I think Jericho, Punk, Hardy and MVP are all solid picks for the KOTR. Finlay, ok. But The Great Khali? Hornswoggle? and why William Regal? What about Shelton Benjamin, I know he's not doing anything. Umaga, maybe? I would have put Big Show in the tournament way before Khali. Aside from that, I thought the matches were overall, pretty solid but having William Regal win just ruined it for me because winners of the King of the Ring usually go on to become WWE champion. To me, it makes no sense to put the WWE title on Raw GM William Regal. On the flipside, like I said the matches were all pretty good.
Eventhough I'm not happy that Regal won the tournament, he does use a brutal looking submission finisher called the "Regal Stretch".
The Great Khali had a "oh sh...." look on his face when the Big Show came out, which was awesome to see.
WWE simulated a match between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008. I thought it was pretty funny.
I am probably in the minority, but I actually enjoyed the promos by the Presidental candidates and it's a pleasant surprise to know that they were even willing to appear on WWE television.
I thought the whole Clinton vs. Obama segment was pretty funny to me. The Bill Clinton lookalike stole the show, in my opinion.
~The show starts with The Great Khali in the ring surrounded by several dancers from India for a "Punjabi Peace Offering" to the Big Show, whose been punking him out these last few weeks.
-Big Show comes down to the ring and Khali "offers" him water from the Ganges River, a bottle of India's "finest" scotch, a live chicken and a goat.
-Show doesn't like the gifts and lays out Khali with a punch. He's so ungrateful.
-WWE Tag Team Champions, The Miz & John Morrison and Shannon Moore & Jimmy Wang Yang have a do-over from last week's match. Only this time, The Great Khali doesn't interfere and the tag champs pick up the win.
-Finlay's son, Hornswoggle hits Striker with the "tadpole" splash from the top rope. Why? Just because he can.
-Victoria comes down to the ring with the woman who jumped Michelle McCool last week and introduces the woman as her "new best friend", Natalya Neidhart.
-Victoria ends up beating Michelle McCool in a match thanks to distraction from her "new best friend".
-Shawn Michaels and Batista have yet another verbal confrontation in the ring. Michaels acts as if he's gonna hit Batista with the Superkick but ends up getting out of the ring before Batista can respond.
-Vladimir Kozlov (with aid from his spotlight) demolishes some guy.
-Matt Hardy beats Chuck Palumbo.
-WWE United States Champion, MVP, reminds Hardy, who holds the gold.
-World Heavyweight Champion, The Undertaker, defeats Festus in a non-title match.
Ha ha ha. Punjabi peace offering? "Big Show, this is a chicken. So you can always have eggs and you'll never go hungry, because we know you like to eat." Ha ha ha.
-I thought the women's match was pretty decent. Short, but pretty decent. Also, Natalya Neidhart's voice sounds funny to me.
I'm really digging the slow build of the Batista/Shawn Michaels feud and I'm really interested in how their match at Backlash is gonna turn out.
Vladimir Kozlov has got to have the most boring entrance in the history of pro wrestling. He strolls to the ring to the theme of a spotlight.
I wanna know who the "genius" was that thought it would be a good idea to have Festus, who is an up-and-coming star being built up as an "unstoppable monster", put him in a match with The Undertaker and have him get beat. How unstoppable is he now? Granted, Festus got loads of offense in and he wasn't completely walked all over by 'Taker but still, WWE has a bunch of people they aren't doing anything with who they could have fed to the World Heavyweight Champ besides Festus.
TNA Lockdown PPV Preview ~TNA's latest PPV event, Lockdown, is happening later tonight in Lowell, Massachusetts. This event is rather unique because every single match on the card is taking place in a steel cage.
TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match -Kurt Angle (champion) vs. Samoa Joe
Lethal Lockdown Match -Team Cage (Christian Cage, Sting, Kevin Nash, Rhino & Matt Morgan) vs. Team Tomko (Tomko, AJ Styles, Team 3D & James Storm)
Xscape Match for the TNA X Division Championship -"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal (champion) vs. Curry Man vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Johnny Devine vs. Shark Boy vs. Consequences Creed
Mixed Tag Team Match -Booker T & Sharmell vs. Robert Roode & Payton Banks
-BG James vs. Kip James
"Cuffed in the Cage" (I honestly have no idea what that means) -Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin (The Motor City Machineguns) vs. Homicide y Hernandez (LAX) vs. Scott Steiner & Petey Williams vs. Lance Hoyt & Jimmy Rave (The Rock'n'Rave Infection) vs. ("SUPER")Eric Young & Kaz vs. Black Reign & Rellik.
Women's Tag Match -TNA Women's Champion Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed vs. Gail Kim & ODB.
"Queen of the Cage" Match -Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Salinas vs. Rhaka Khan vs. Traci Brooks vs. Christy Hemme vs. Jacqueline vs. Roxxi Laveaux.
I'm pumped for the Angle/Joe match. They've had about four matches in the past and all of them were solid, so I'm expecting them to raise the bar a little higher in this one. Plus, it seems they are going to work a style of match that leans more towards MMA than pro wrestling, so I'm very interested in how that turns out.
Lethal Lockdown looks ok but I'm not too excited about it. The same goes for the BG James vs. Kip James match. The build towards that match has been, in my opinion, great but I doubt the match is gonna be anything special.
"Cuffed in a cage" on paper looks like a diaster waiting to happen with all the people being crammed into a cage but it does have HERNANDEZ~!, the machineguns, Mr. Canadian Destroyer himself and "SUPER" Eric, so maybe it won't be so bad.
Curry Man~!
I think the women's tag match featuring Awesome Kong, ODB, Gail Kim and Raisha Saeed could possibly steal the show. I'm calling it now.
TNA Video Game Trailer
~Over the weekend, Midway games released the official trailer for TNA's first video game, "TNA Impact" (yep, just like their weekly tv show).
I thought the trailer looked pretty good. Yet, don't they all.
4/11 & 4/12 ROH Results
~Ring of Honor held two shows over the weekend, here's what went down:
Ring of Honor Results - 4/11/08 Boston, Massachusetts
-Erick Stevens wins the four corner survival match over Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero and El Generico and earns the right to face ROH World Champion, Nigel McGuinness in the main event for the Title.
-Jason Blade defeats Michael Nakazawa
-Eddie Edwards defeats Jigsaw and after the match Eddie Edwards signs with Larry Sweeney's "Sweet and Sour Inc."
-Jack Evans and Ruckus (The Vulture Squad) defeat The Briscoes.
-Claudio Castagnoli,Delirious and Pelle Primeau beat Larry Sweeney, Chris Hero and Brent Albright.
-Davey Richards beats Kota Ibushi.
-Nigel McGuiness retains his title against Erick Stevens.
-Kevin Steen defeats Necro Butcher in a Boston Street Fight.
Ring of Honor Results - 4/12/08 Edison, New Jersey
-El Generico defeats Jack Evans.
-Jigsaw defeats Mitch Franklin.
-Chris Hero kicks Bobby Dempsey out of Sweet & Sour Inc.
-Eddie Edwards and Chris Hero defeat Erick Stevens and Pelle Primeau.
-Brent Albright defeats Delirious.
-Necro Butcher defeats FIP Champion, Roderick Strong, in a non-title match.
-Claudio Castagnoli defeats Kota Ibushi with the Ricola Bomb.
-ROH World Champion, Nigel McGuiness retains the ROH World Title over Kevin Steen
-Jay & Mark Briscoe win the ROH World Tag Team Titles from Davey Richards & Rocky Romero.
Just like I predicted, Steen won his brawl with Necro but lost his title match with Nigel McGuinness. I think he'll hover around the ROH World Title picture some more though.
I did not see The Briscoes winning the tag belts coming. I thought they were gonna let Richards & Romero run with the belts a little longer and I saw The Vulture Squad, not the Briscoes, eventually beating them for the belts. Speaking of the Vulture Squad, they happened to pick up a win over the new ROH tag champs on the night before they won the titles. I'm smelling a future title shot for the Vulture Squad.
Kota Ibushi seemed to have gotten squashed the entire weekend, but I think he'll be back soon and should rack up a couple wins here and there.
