Welcome to this special Sunday edition of The View Down in The O’Really Report! This week I continue the tradition of having joint columns with fellow columnists on the site and this week’s guest is none of other than the Man From Down Under himself Steven Gepp!
Afternoon… or whatever it is in your part of the world.
So without any further delay, let’s jump right into it. First on the plate is the PPV: Extreme Rules. The card is set and it seems to be a stellar one at that. The first match on the list is the Loser Leaves WWE match between Michelle McCool and Layla. Thoughts Steven?
Look, this is going to sound harsh, but I have incredibly low expectations of this match. McCool has shown some talent in the ring, but Layla just leaves me cold. I think the only way this match could be redeemed in any way, shape or form is if Awesome Kong comes out and destroys both women. Completely. Leave them quivering masses of flesh and silicone.
The Diva’s Division has taken a turn for the worse so it seems, but perhaps shuffling the Divas in the draft will do some good after all. However, this match will be treacherous as you stated Layla is terrible in the ring. Her matches are usually cut down to only a few minutes in order to hide her major flaws. True she is pretty, but she doesn’t cut it in the ring. McTaker is good in there, but not good enough to carry Layla. Hopefully, Kharma will indeed debut Sunday to obliverate the two. That would make for an excellent opening segment for the show.
I’m not as sold on the Divas as you. Three (Natalya, Beth Phoenix and Gail Kim) I find worth watching. In fact, the best female match I’ve seen this year (from TNA, WWE, Shimmer and whatever) was one from my local fed Riot City Wrestling. Crapped all over anything the big 2 put out this year. It is the one area where TNA is better than WWE, though – the women’s in-ring performances, and their back stories (hypnosis notwithstanding).
Or rape. I guess I’m just more hopeful for the division than anything else. But nevertheless let’s move on. The next match on the agenda is the Falls Count Anywhere Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes bout. Thoughts Mr. Gepp?
Potentially match of the night. These two have really good chemistry together, and Rey looks like he is trying to make a new star of Cody. Everything about this feud has been great, and I am actually looking forward to seeing the two of them get it on.
This is easily the match I’m most excited about on the card with no other feuds/match potential as interesting as theirs. With Falls Count Anywhere stip, we may see this one spill out into the backstage area which is always interesting. But I agree that this could very easily be the Match of the Night, but I believe there’s another match on the card that could take that spotlight.
The only other one I’m confident will reach good heights is Christian/Alberto Del Rio.
And that hits the nail on the head. I’m stoked to see how well Christian and Del Rio do in the World Heavyweight Championship match this Sunday. Christian, along with Edge, redefined the Ladder match and made it to what it is today, so it’ll be nice to see Christian finally get his due in the match he helped create.
And one of the best things about it is that it will actually give us a new World Champ (ECW titles being ignored). Even though the ladder match has lost its spark, I think it will be perfect for allowing these two to show what they are really capable of. I would have said this was a pick ’em, but with Del Rio moving brands, it seems more geared towards a Christian win than anything else. Which I am perfectly fine with.
I concur, although I fear the del Rio move a mistake. The Draft should have waited until after Extreme Rules in my opinion. But the next match on the card is Last Man Standing Randy Orton vs CM Punk bout. How does it go Steven?
I think CM Punk is almost as misused as Samoa Joe (but at least Punk has a couple of WWE titles). He’s like the world’s greatest enhancement talent. But Orton is an intriguing case. His personality, his heel-but-face persona, his mannerisms I find interesting, but his in-ring work leaves me apathetic. It’s not that he’s sloppy, and it’s not that I need a flashy little jumping jack in every match, but he sells everything from a simple punch to a jumping spike piledriver with the same facial expression. Punk will be carrying this one, so let’s hope his recent renegotiations don’t leave him disinterested.
Punk leaving will be a huge blow to WWE, especially in their ‘wrestling’ department. But I agree that Orton has been a terrible character. He debuts on SmackDown and how does he act? He’s waving and pandering to the audience instead of being the VIPER. This is why he can’t be Steve Austin. Stone Cold didn’t change personas when he went from heel to face. He just Stunned Vinny Mac instead of Jake Roberts.
Yeah, but see, I even got sick of Steve Austin being that Steve Austin character. But I don’t think Orton is trying to be Austin. I think he’s now trying to be Cena v2.1. And one of them is 2 too many…
Well it’d be hard to be the Austin in the PG era today, but I can see how he is acting like Cena especially with how he RKO’d two guys in his opening segment before del Rio and company came down. We go from SuperCena to SuperRandal. The next match is the main attraction… are you ready Steven?
Sigh… not really…
That’s right! Telepathy it works! Next up is the… hold on let me see if I got this straight… the Tag Team Country Whippin’ Match! How about that one Mr. Gepp?
Hmm… well, I recently did a retrospective on the WCW PPVs from the year 2000, and one word came up more than any other – CRAP. Well, this is crap, this feud has gone to crap, having JR “wrestle” is crap, the fact this is popular with the fans is crap. I want Cole away from the announce booth. There is a difference between a heel announcer and an announcer who just belittles the product to the detriment of the product. He should become a heel manager, JR should come back to RAW, they should let Striker be the wrestling nerd commentator he used to be, have Lawler and Booker be the experienced voice of the wrestler and… What? The match? Do I have to? Well, it’s going to be crap. This and the Diva’s match are going to be vying for worst WWE match of the year honours and it’s only May.
Oh but you can’t forget the WrestleMania match between Cole and Jerry! It definitely has to be in the running for the honors! But this match just exemplifies that the announcers are better served as just that or managers. Jerry can still go a bit, but that doesn’t mean he should. I really dig Cole as Swagger’s manager though, it hides Swagger’s speech impediment and helps him seem more over. Now if only he could have him challenge Cena…
I think Cole needs to go away for a month or so. Have the fans get used to not having him around. And then have him turn up managing a heel champ more obnoxious then ever, preferably the tag champs so he could legitimately be on both brands while he builds his stable. With Vicki G on RAW, having 2 heel managers on the same show won’t work any more, not like in the days of Heenan/Slick/Fuji. But one RAW manager, one across both brands, and then find one for SD to complete the triumvirate.
That’s a great idea… I’d be all for Armando Elejandro Estrada coming back as a manager on SmackDown. He was beautiful on the mic and could take bumps if the occasion called for it. Swagger and Drew McIntyre possibly for Cole’s team or do you mean a totally new team?
I don’t care. I think McIntyre is headed for facedom, and Swagger will be back in a singles title mix, so how about some disgruntled Corre members?
Thinking the former tag champs Slabriel?
Could be. I like them, but they need a mouthpiece. Perfect for Cole.
Hmm… I like it, Cole would have plenty to talk about for Gabriel. I guess he could talk about how awesome Slater’s hair flip is. Anyways the final match of the card is none other than the Steel Cage Triple Threat between John Cena, The Miz, and John Morrison. Thoughts?
This is a tough one. And, strangely, I think Morrison could do it. I’m going to ignore my personal feelings towards the wrestlers involved, but I think the way they’ve done this is going to be just to set up the long-simmering and much-anticipated John Cena heel turn. Imagine having Morrison win, and the crowd popping for him. Imagine Morrison and Cena squaring off and the crowd being firmly behind Morrison. On RAW Cena can then: “I gave you my heart and soul and you cheer for that spot monkey over me? I challenge you, tonight, for your title!” It happens, but Miz costs Cena by attacking Morrison, and Morrison’s win gets a huge cheer, and Cena feels all rejected. This leads nicely into a Miz/Morrison feud, and Cena can become the disgruntled former hero, a PG version of Sting’s Crow phase, but on the dark side.
I’d be fine with that, but with the Raw’s heel scene already being so crowded, I don’t think he would fit there. One of the other heels would have to be traded like R-Truth post JoMo feud. But I have to disagree with you on the winner. I would love to see Morrison win, but seeing Cena go heel would almost be too good. I think Miz will pull another win out here by either pinning JoMo while Cena is climbing or climb out when Cena is tied up with Morrison. I am glad the croney has been traded off to SmackDown though. I think your hypothesis of how the Cena turn could go is a fantastic one though. It would make sense in all the right ways such as R-Truth’s turn.
And because it makes sense, we both know it won’t happen.
Sigh… agreed. Darn you WWE, lightning won’t strike twice.
But now that we have the Extreme Rules PPV out of the way let’s move on to the next piece of business… The Rock’s Birthday. Who do you think will be there to cut the cake and give Rock his spankings?
I so want it to be Mick Foley, but I’m banking on Steve Austin, Vinnie Mac, Mr Socko and Farrooq (with NoD t-short for old time’s sake).
There have indeed been rumors of Foley showing up, but I don’t know if that’ll happen seeing as he is still under contract with TNA, I believe.
Stranger things have happened. Diesel turning up at the RR is one.
True and Zack Ryder getting a title shot is another. But I’d love to see Foley there if for nothing else than a kick back to the highest rated segment in Raw history with the ‘Day In Your Life’ bits.
I remember watching that and at the time being annoyed as all hell because it seemed to drag on forever.
Yet you were watching it and that’s why it’s so critically acclaimed. But moving on to our final topic… How long will The Miz hold on to his title if he wins at the PPV?
How long is a piece of string? It depends on who they build as the new ‘face’ of RAW. If it’s some one already established (Cena, Morrison, Mysterio) then two PPVs, tops. If it’s some one they’ve got to build up to, then he’ll hold on until SummerSlam (August, I believe). That some one could be a newly turned Drew McIntyre, or even a re-established Big Show (former tag partners go at it!). Or… they hotshot it onto Rock at RAW the next night. Cena costs Rock the title (back to Miz? to Alberto Del Rio? Rock certainly has shown in the past he has no problems jobbing to up and comers or those not seen as big stars), making that heel turn more the better, and adding more fuel to their WrestleMania fire.
Very valid assertions and I agree for the most part. I can’t see the MME Title staying on The Miz any longer than SummerSlam. I don’t think he’ll lose it anytime soon, but I don’t think he’ll hold on to it post August. He might start breaking time records if he did that. No not the Bruno Sammartino record, but some more recent records.
But with the SD title going to a new title holder (Del Rio or Christian… and, no, the ECW title does not count here) will the ‘E do the same thing so soon on Raw? I hope so, but don’t think so.
Are you asking will it change so soon after a newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion? If so, then no. If the title changes hands I belive it will go to an established star before to any new champs such as Morrison/Truth(HA)/McIntyre/etc.
It would put those young stars so much further over if they beat Cena or Punk.
Then again, they might be resetting. After all, the idea is that the WWE does not want fans to cheer for the wrestlers/superstars. They want them to cheer for and be fans of the company. And having the same guys win/be at the top all the time develops that “hero worship” they want to avoid. The best way to avoid it is to have new champs, so people have to learn to get behind the champ again, but they remain fans of the product. An analogy is, I guess, the original ‘Rollerball’ film with James Caan (my favourite film of all time). When Johnathan E became bigger than the game, they had to get rid of him. They failed, but they tried.
Interesting analogy, but when have they been trying to get away from the ‘hero worship?’ Cena dominated the scene the mid 2000s, but it looks like that’s all the time we have folks!
Thanks for coming Steven Gepp and do you have any final words?
Thanks for having me.
Don’t forget to check out Steven Gepp every other week on Monday in his column entitled ‘The View From Down Here’ here on Inside Pulse!
Just Keep Plugging…
Uno, James Alsop kicks butt and takes names with his Keynotes and Keyholds column as he discusses how Shakespeare compares to wrestling.
Second, Chris Sanders somehow keeps his sanity as he continues to do the Superstars Review.
Three, Mr. Gojira makes a loud statement in his column as tries to accuse Jonah Kue and myself of a sneak attack dressed as luchadores. Oh and he discusses heel tactics in The Stomping Ground.
3+1, don’t agree with Steven and I’s opinions on Extreme Rules? Well maybe someone in the Roundtable feels the same as you do!
V, Kelly does yet another phenomenal job on her SmackDown Recap despite not being as awesome as Kue, Gepp, or myself.
Syxx, M.C. Brown is bringing the goods with his 10 thoughts column on TNA!
Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment in the section below!
And quite frankly my dear…. that’s a wrap.
