>>> OFF THE RECORD
>>> SMACKDOWN
I haven’t written anything detailed about Smackdown in a long, long time. It’s just been a really, really bad show for the past six months or so, and there’s never really been any point in wasting my time and talking about it.
Last night’s edition of Smackdown was not an amazing show by any means. There’s still a lot of problems with the roster and storylines, and it’s still going to take awhile to fix them. However, the show last night did indicate that they might at LEAST be willing to try something new. Cruiserweights were heavily featured, and the team of Paul London and Kidman won the tag team titles by defeating The Dudley Boyz. That’s something I never thought I’d see, so it’s good to see them freshening things up a bit.
I’m still a mark for the Undertaker angle. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or if Heyman is just simply doing an amazing job, but it’s one of the most interesting storylines going on BOTH brands these days.
London and Kidman winning the tag titles was a thing of beauty; it was totally unexpected and awfully cool to see. I’m still digging Bradshaw’s character, and I’m not opposed to having him around as a long-term champion anymore.
All in all, it was a good show…which is several steps above where they’ve been the past few months.
>>> A FLAIR FOR THE ABSURD
This thing with Ric Flair and Mick Foley keeps spiraling out of control, and it’s becoming more and more obvious with each potshot taken by either party that the entire thing is a work.
If you aren’t familiar with the story by now, I’ll recap it for you. Foley does a little badmouthing of Flair in his WWE so Flair calls him a “glorified stuntman” and points out that Foley has never drawn any money apart from Vince and WWE. Foley takes offense at some of the comments made by Flair, and decides that he’s going to stop taking calls from Vince and the rest of the WWE.
It’s at this point where our story gets exposed as a work. Foley is a big believer in free speech, and to think that he would actually get all huffy because of a simple “reciept” is absurd. It’s obvious that the two are using the media to plant the seeds for a progam between them later on, and they are trying to give it a “real” feeling.
Will it work?
As a storyline, yes. Flair and Foley are two of the greatest all-time on the microphone, so the promos for this storyline alone should be more than enough to make it a focus of Raw programming. In the ring, though, both Flair and Foley are shadows of their former selves. Flair can still deliver a good story in the ring, but he gets blown up after about 3 minutes of telling that story and needs to be carried the rest of the way. Foley never WAS a good wrestler, and he’s decayed to a point now where Randy Orton had to carry him in a match. Yeah, the match will be big and it’ll be hyped up a lot, but the payoff won’t be worth much because both guys are going to flame out in the ring.
I love both Ric Flair and Mick Foley — they are two of my favorite workers of all time — but it doesn’t mean that a singles program between them is going to work. I’m hoping they can prove me wrong, but I don’t see it happening.
>>> SHORT ENDS
Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat, Bash at the Beach, 1994
Diesel vs. Sid, In Your House, 1995
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Marc Mero, In Your House, 1996
Rey Mysterio vs. Psychosis, Bash at the Beach 1996
Triple H vs. Mankind, Canadian Stampede, 1997
Undertaker vs. Vader, Canadian Stampede, 1997
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho, Bash at the Beach, 1998
Miss Hancock vs. Daffney, Bash at the Beach, 2000
The Rock vs. Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker, WWE Championship, Vengeance 2002
The Dudleys vs. Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero, Vengeance 2002
Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit, Vengeance, 2003
Undertaker vs. John Cena, Vengeance, 2003
>>> THEWRESTLINGBLOG.COM — POST OF THE WEEK
I’m going to do this every Friday from here on out. Each week, I’ll spotlight one post from thewrestlingblog.com and offer up a link. The first one goes to Gagnon, who had a nice little aside about Meltzer and how people in the business view him.
>>> IN CLOSING
That’s it for the week. I’m on leave next week, so I’ll be tasking someone to fill in for me. I have no idea at this point, but it’ll be a surprise. Until I return, ya’ll enjoy yourselves and enjoy Vengeance.
